New Grounds
by AdrianBastion
Summary: A witch and a sorcerer, a recluse and a feral child. Both content with their lives as they were, and that was all they wanted in life. But fate has a habit of throwing a wrench into any sort of plan.
1. Beginnings

**Authors Note:** I'll be honest here, it's been a while since I wrote a Soul Eater fic, but, I'm back to give it another shot. I've got this story pretty well planned out, and am eager to know what everyone thinks. Comments and _helpful_ criticism are welcomed. Like I said, it's been a while since I've written for Soul Eater, and I've not really read or watched Soul Eater Not, so forgive me if I make mistakes in that area.

* * *

In the small room, Siren Kahale lounged on the couch, her attention was only partially on the TV that droned on in front of her, relaying recent news events in its ever monotonous attitude. Most of her focus was on the one playing on the floor in front of her. A chorus of squeaks playing out in a never-ending composition as played, alternating between gnawing on and pawing at the dog toy she had gotten him not to long ago.

He was still dressed in his normal garbs. Brown shorts and a light gray button up shirt, black suspenders and a cravat that was slightly tattered at the end. His boots were discarded by the door, his gloves, with opened fingers and every hole ripped up, were tossed aside at the couch. Even his cape, which he liked to use as a blanket when the two were out and about and he got sleepy, was gone, draped over the arm of a chair, it's ends completely torn up and his black colored jack-o-lantern mask resting under it. The boy, still but a child, looked like he was half-way dressed for some Halloween party, though Halloween was long past. Most people, normal, _human_ , people wouldn't even believe her if she said that this outfit was his primary choice of clothing.

The boy, Jacko, was so happy as he went at his toys as though he were an excited puppy. Many of what he did Siren couldn't help but liken to a young animal. Though, considering his background, it was easy to forgive.

She envied him a little. He was so happy, his young age left him still untouched by the destructive sway their magic held over them. He only ever did anything destructive because it was what _Siren_ wanted. Hell, he wasn't even aware of the ticking time bomb that lurked and squirmed about inside his own body.

Just thinking about it, Siren closed her eyes, feeling her hands clench at her side. She could remove any foreign substance and item from her body thanks to her magic. But Jacko? He couldn't. He couldn't turn his physical state into water like she could, leaving anything not a part of herself to drown. The young sorcerer was skilled in fire magic, and even that was barely what one could call 'skilled'. He didn't even know something was wrong with him.

Maybe it wasn't so enviable, being unaware of how quickly and suddenly your life could be snuffed out, and never knowing why that happened.

Still, it left a bitter taste in her mouth thinking of that happening to her ward. She couldn't' help but blame herself. She hadn't been able to protect him. She let her guard down in a place she should had made sure to constantly be watching him in. God. She had a newfound hate of snakes. What made matters worse was that it'd only been a few days since then.

* * *

To say that Siren didn't get along well with others, even fellow witches, was like saying lava was hot, or that Don Juan Pond was salty. While you wouldn't be wrong in either statements, you would still be underestimating both situations by quite a lot. She wasn't exactly the social kind of person, and in truth, she _really_ didn't like other people. Didn't matter what they were, they annoyed her. Finding someone who was an exception to this truth was very rare.

She was content to spend her time alone in Hawaii, where she was the only witch for miles upon miles. Where she could unleash her magic, giving in to the pull of magic and its destructive tendencies through the tidal waves she created. Waves that not even Death himself would be able to link to her. The ocean was, after all, quite unpredictable and untamable. It was where she felt at home, where she felt at peace, and she would be damned if she let anyone rip her away from that.

Or, in the case of the witch masses she had to go for 'appearances sake', she could at least be as bitchy and grumpy as she could over having to have left her home. The only factor that made it any bit bearable was the child at her side the whole time.

Jacko, his outfit complete, had stayed at her side ever since they entered the witch realm. His black jack-o-lantern helmet was on, it's face closed and a faint orange glow emitted from the empty eyeholes and grinning carved mouth. Occasionally he would giggle at something he found funny, earning a few harsh glares that he seemed to not even notice, but for the most part he was content with silently entertaining himself.

It wasn't his first rodeo, Jacko knew how to behave while at the witches mass.

Not being a witch had certainly not given him any points with the others that attended. Didn't matter that he was a sorcerer, still one born of magic and bound to the destructive nature. And, by association, Siren didn't rank high in the popularity polls either for being the one who always brought Jacko. Not that Siren particularly cared, as mentioned earlier, she _really_ didn't like the others that attended.

It was easy to say that Jacko wasn't really well liked by other witches. While he was a sorcerer and born of magic, he was still _different_. He was the 'feral child' as they called him, and that was the kinder of the titles they'd given him.

They had already gone through all that had been needed to be said. A few witches were still somewhat disgruntled by Medusa's undercover work at the DWMA, not that Siren could blame them. The snake was putting them all in danger with her research and experimentation, not to mention she was sitting right in a den of students trained to murder their kind. A part of Siren hoped she slipped up, one less annoyance. Was that too mean? She didn't care, she didn't particularly like Medusa, and the woman's son… daughter…. _child_ always seemed off. Not someone she wanted her own ward playing with.

Whatever it was that Medusa was doing, by the sounds of things, her little game with the DWMA was drawing to a close, for better or for worse.

With the mass having drawn to a close after a grueling amount of time listening to witches complain, and the grand witch go on and on about things that Siren couldn't care less about, the masses were finally starting to disperse. Witches pulled up their hoods, put on their hats, or just reapplied whatever it was they removed for the meeting. Siren, of course, had none of which to do. Her only garment being the white bandages that were wrapped around her naked body, covering what was important and more.

Really, wearing clothes was a bit of a pain when she changed her form to water. With the bandages like this, at least she could manipulate them and be sure to still be covered when returned to a solid state. So, she could handle being dressed like a 'slutty mummy' for the sake of convenience.

A scowl still fixed on her face, Siren turned on a bare heel, making her way out to one of the many alleys that led out of the meeting area. "Come on, Jacko," she said just loud enough for the boy to hear as he scampered out following right behind her.

Already she could feel the comfort of knowing the other witches were getting farther and farther away from her. It was enough to bring a soft smile to her face, and she reached down to take Jacko's hand in her own. So he wouldn't wander off she'd tell herself.

Though her peace and comfort was only short lived.

"I'm surprised you showed up today," a low voice had her stop in her tracks, instinctively stepping in front of Jacko as though to shield him. From the shadows stepped Medusa, her elder and someone who was already high on her shit list. Siren could only scowl as the witch went on, "you rarely show, it's like someone has to twist your arm to bring you over. But, it is a nice treat when you do appear."

"Cut to the chase, what do you want?" Siren snapped.

Medusa walked towards her, stance and pace screaming that she owned the world, that she owned Siren. From behind her, the younger of the two could make out a figure standing awkwardly, Crona, perhaps. Blue eyes flicked back to Medusa, narrowed in disdain as she waited for an answer to her question. Maybe it'd be a good enough reason to validate a good punch to the blondes' face.

"I want to have us work together," Medusa said plainly. As Siren's face scrunched up in confusion at the very notion, she went on, "You're a very powerful person, Siren, quite deserving of the title 'Water Witch'. Capable of manipulating entire oceans even, it'd be a waste to not try and bring you in as an ally."

She could feel bile in the back of her throat, and she felt sick just talking to Medusa for this long. But she just kept he gaze level, letting her annoyance show at full force, "So? I can get why you'd want me as an ally, but why would _I_ want to work with you?" she questioned.

As far as the younger witch cared, there was no reason for her to align herself with someone as awful as Medusa. Even _Siren_ had standards, after all.

"Does seeing the DWMA, seeing Death, fall and be destroyed interest you at all?" she asked, and when Siren remained unfazed, continued on, "I didn't think so. You may be a witch, but, you really are apathetic to anything that doesn't directly affect you. You don't care at all about whether the DWMA remains strong or falls to ruin."

Siren frowned, "If that's the best you can offer, then you really need to work on your sales pitch. Whatever happens to the DWMA, and you're plans with them, ainokea," she deadpanned. If that was how Medusa went about recruiting others, then how did she manage to drag the Mizune sisters and Eruka into her schemes? That was a mystery Siren had no desire to waste energy on solving.

For some reason, Medusa just smiled at that. A creepy, malicious grin that sent alarm bells in Siren's head ringing.

"I just wanted to give you the option to go along willingly," Medusa explained calmly, "you see, no isn't an option, I'll have to go the other route. A pity, really, I have no interest in him after all."

Her eyes were gazing on something behind Siren, and alarm bells turned into warning sirens in her head. It was at that moment she realized she couldn't feel Jacko right behind her anymore, the familiar warmth from the heat that radiated off of him was gone. She whirled around on her heels, heart rate starting to race in her chest as she stared at where the boy had moved to.

Farther down the alleyway he was crouched down next to Eruka, guzzling some liquid happily. She felt some minor relief that he was still there with her, but her nerves were still on end. Telling her that something was wrong with the image. Did Medusa spike the drink with some kind of poison? Laced it with a drug?

"How many of my snakes do you think were in there?" Medusa asked.

Blood running cold, Siren wasted no time dashing across the alley to where Jacko sat, roughly shoving Eruka aside and knocking the thermos from the boy's hands. As some of the clear liquid poured out, she could see one of the magic snakes squirming about in the puddle of liquid. Disgusting.

Putting a hand on his stomach and the other on his cheek, he had already pushed his helmet up so he could drink the elixir given to him. Her eyes narrowed, "Jacko, open up," she commanded. He gave her a confused look, but opened his mouth wide as he could. Focusing hard, Siren used the fluids in his body to try and locate the snakes as best as she could. Her hand shook as she began counting. Could he feel them writhing and squirming inside of him? She had to remove them, now.

"I know what you're thinking, and I wouldn't do that if I were you," Medusa's icily cool voice broke through her thoughts as she stepped over to the two. "One command and I can have them burst out, rather violently if I may add, and you don't want that, do you?"

Siren felt bile begin to rise at the idea of that happening to the boy.

"What do you want?" she growled out, turning slowly to face Medusa, being sure the hate in her eyes would show. The disgust she felt to the older woman was open for all to see.

Medusa was unfazed by the hostility, and smiled instead, "I want your cooperation, simple as that, and now you have an incentive for being obedient."

She had an incentive alright. It was a dirty, horrible trick that Medusa used. But, Siren had to give her credit in terms of effectiveness. Even if she didn't want to, the facts remained that with this set up, there wasn't any way she could say no to Medusa. Not when Jacko's life was on the line, not when it meant that if she acted up, he'd be killed in a horrible, painful manner.

She ground her teeth, the rage she felt was a barely contained tsunami, crashing around inside her, "Fine. I'll cooperate so long as you don't hurt him."

"You have my word."

With that, the snake witch turned around and sauntered off, Eruka chasing after her, leaving both Jacko and Siren alone in the alley. Her anger was coursing through her, threatening to break through and drown this entire realm and all its inhabitants. Her entire body was shaking, trembling with her fury she desperately held back for her wards sake. Oh, how she wished she could kill Medusa right there, and save them all the repercussions of the future.

* * *

Something warm bumped against her leg, and Siren let out a breath, opening her eyes. Broken free from her thoughts and memories of the incident, she looked down. Crouched at her feet was Jacko, staring up at her with bright green eyes atop his skin, tanned by many hours out in the tropical sunlight. His hair, a blonde so pale it could pass for white, was as much a mess as ever. He must have noticed something was wrong.

He bumped his head against her leg again, a soft whine pleading for her attention, the water witch couldn't help but offer a small smile, bringing a hand to his head to give it a gentle rub, fingers becoming entangled in his soft hair.

"Hey, buddy, you getting hungry?" she asked him.

Smiling wide, sharp white canines showing, Jacko nodded, "Chic-chic!" he chirped, his own rendition of the word 'chicken', his favorite food. With the way he was looking at her so pleadingly, there was no way that Siren could deny him.

Standing up from the couch, Jacko followed suit, pushing himself up from the floor to stand on his own to legs. The woman barely got two steps before he latched onto her arm, grasping her hand in his own much warmer one, bringing the other to his mouth so he could gnaw on the thumb nail.

Jacko was… the only innocent and good thing is Sirens life, and she'd do anything to keep him safe, to keep that bomb forced inside of him from going off. Even if it meant she'd have to play the role of a puppet, she'd willingly do a song and dance to keep her ward safe and happy.

* * *

Translations:

ainokea: I don't care/ I couldn't care less


	2. Solo Player

After that incident with Medusa placing her in such a frustrating position of worrying and constantly treading on thin ice for the sake of Jacko, Siren found herself being sent on missions and jobs at a rather frequent schedule. The days, weeks and eventual months that followed had her leaving her island home again and again, forcing her to step away from her safe haven, and leaving Jacko for prolonged periods of time, far longer than she would have liked. And to do what? Flood a town here, set off tsunamis onto beaches and islands there, steal and siphon away a few water reservoirs that towns relied on to survive, leaving them in an impromptu drought.

Medusa proved to be highly keen on taking full advantage of the hydrokinetic powers Siren possessed to further her own plans. How these actions even helped move her closer to her endgame, whatever the Hell that was, Siren didn't know, and she didn't care.

She hated it, hated how her skyrocketed rate of activity was putting her on the DWMA's radar. Before she could go out now and again, let out her frustration and all the nasty feelings the pull of magic gave her, and with how sparse it happened, Death would chalk it up to the natural wrath of the ocean, not a witch who could control it.

Hated how she was forced to leave Jacko all alone at home for days at a time, something she tried to refuse at first—he was far too young to be able to watch over himself! — but Medusa would see no reason in that regard. Siren was forced to rely on others to watch over the boy during these jobs. Eruka was by far the best babysitter out of the bunch during the times she was begrudgingly forced to rely on her to watch over Jacko. She obeyed the rules and didn't try any funny business. Free, well, after the first time Siren decided never again. Not only had Jacko been fed unhealthy slop that left him with sick later that night, but he was allowed up hours past his bedtime and nearly set the entire house on fire through too wild of roughhousing.

She hated Medusa most of all, the egotistical, conniving, manipulative witch. A monster of a being.

So, months later when she heard the news, albeit a few weeks old when it reached her, of Medusa's work at the DWMA having come to an end, how her attack on the school failed, how _she had_ _failed_ and was, most importantly, _dead_ … Siren was the happiest she had felt in a long, long while.

Medusa was dead. Medusa was dead. Medusa was _dead_.

The snakes in Jacko would be gone if the witch that planted them was gone, his safety was assured. The two could resume life as it had been before. No more impromptu missions keeping her away for days on end. No more putting herself and him at risk. She could stay home with Jacko; she could return to her comfortable life as it had been before. But, most importantly…

Jacko was _safe_.

And to the Sea Witch, that alone was the most important thing to come out of the death of Medusa.

With Medusa was dead, the snake lurking inside of him was gone, he was safe, and though Jacko didn't understand what that meant at all, even he could comprehend that it was important.

New laws were passed by Grand Witch after the fallout of what Medusa had been planning, (reviving the Kishin, Asura, an insane idea and a threat to the safety of everyone, though rumor had it she didn't succeed), that no witch was to go near Death City and the DWMA. Too risky for themselves and the community at whole.

Siren understood the reasoning behind that, and she respected that judgement, even if she wished it had been made before Medusa ever got it in her head to infiltrate the school in the first place. She was content to stay back in Hawaii, away from everyone and away from the DWMA. With Medusa gone, she could go back to her isolated lurking, bide her time until she falls off of Deaths radar. Then she could be sure she was safe, she can ensure both she and Jacko were safe.

For Jacko, he didn't understand the reasoning behind it when Siren celebrated the occasion or what had happened. He didn't understand that Medusa was dead and what it meant. He barely understood the concept of life and death. All he understood was that whatever it was, Siren was happy about it, beyond happy about it, and that meant for him that _he_ was happy about it.

He understood that she was happy enough to the point that not only was she making them a feast for two to celebrate, but that she was making sweets and pastries. That Siren would make him a cake, a _cake_ to celebrate. That itself was its own landmark; Siren _hated_ sweets and sugary foods. She refused to make anything that was unhealthy, refused to let Jacko eat anything unhealthy. But here she was, going to make him a cake and cookies to celebrate. He was going to get to eat cake for the first time!

Sitting on the floor, he stared up at Siren with a sloppy, goofy grin, watching as she slipped a white blouse over her bandaged torso. Whenever she put on regular clothing it meant she was going out, going out on the town for whatever reason. He liked going with her on these trips.

"Sorry, Jacko," Siren said, casting him an apologetic smile, reaching down to rub at his head, earning a purr like noise to come from deep in his chest, it was enough to bring a warm, bubbling feeling to sprout up in her chest, "you're going to have to stay here. Need someone big and strong to guard the house while I'm gone." Plus, she planned on getting him a few surprises, and it wouldn't do to have him there with her when she bought them.

His smile frowned and he ducked his head, a low whine replacing his purr, "Awww," he drew out the complaint, but it lasted only a second when the 'big and strong' part registered. He pushed himself to stand on his legs, smiling wide and showing off a pair of sharp canine as he did as best as he could in an attempt to make himself look bigger than he was, "Aigh! Jacko… Jacko strong!" though he struggled to speak, he was happy nonetheless in his boast.

"I know you are," Siren agreed, smiling gently as she crouched in front of him, giving him a light tap on his nose. "I'll be gone for a two hours at most. You know the rules; stay inside, don't let anyone in, don't talk to strangers, and don't set anything on fire. Think you can handle that responsibility?" she asked him.

The boy grinned wide and nodded his head, giving a small dog like yip in response.

"Good boy," she smiled, the warm feeling was spreading past her chest cavity to other parts of her body, and she didn't mind. It was a nice feeling. Standing back up, she fetched her wallet and slipped it into the pocket of her pants, followed by one more pat to the head to the child at her side. "Try not to get into any trouble now, I'll be back before you know it, malama pono." she gave her temporary farewell as she slipped out the front door.

The door clicked gently when she shut it, and Jacko sat up on the couch, listening as she walked down the sandy path away from the house. When he was certain she was gone, his smile fell as he looked around the now empty house. It wasn't big by any means, but, whenever Siren was gone it felt so much larger, more empty. Jacko hated being left alone. He didn't like being alone. It had only been a few minutes and already he wanted Siren back home, back here with him so he wouldn't be left alone!

No, no! Siren said he was big and strong, so he had to be big and strong! Big, strong people didn't get lonely. So, he couldn't let her down.

Dropping back to all fours, the child began padding around the house in search of something to do while he waited for Siren to return. He couldn't' go outside, Siren didn't like him out there unsupervised. Maybe something from the box he and Siren watched things from? No, that didn't sound fun right now either. Oh, maybe he could grab some of his toys! Yeah, he could play with them while he waited!

Dashing down the halls he slid to a stop in his own den, grinning as he pushed open the treasure box that kept all the toys Siren had gotten him. He was careful as he picked the ones he wanted. A few stuffed animals, a couple of plastic men and women (action figures he thinks she called them) and some wooden blocks. There were a few plastic rings too that he liked to bite into, and rope toys too, but he needed Siren for those; they weren't fun if someone wasn't there to try and wretch it from his firm bite.

Carrying them in his tattered cape as though it were a basket, he hobbled back into the main den with the viewing box. Dropping the toys onto the floor, he grinned himself dropped down to lay on his stomach as he began stacking the blocks into a sloppy tower. He made his own sound affects as he brought General Bunny, a blue stuffed bunny with patches and stitches to repair his battle wounds, over to the tower, slamming it into the blocks and causing the blocks and tower to topple over. He gave himself a small giggle after making an 'explosion' sound.

Half tempted he was to add fire to the towers destruction. No… he shouldn't. Siren asked him not to set anything on fire.

Oh well, he didn't need his magic to have fun. He brought over one of the plastic dolls, one covered in some kind of armor, over to the pile of wooden blocks. Shortly after he began making sounds as General Bunny and Plastic Man began fighting to the death.

It didn't take long for General Bunny to dominate over Plastic Man, pinning the toy soldier to the ground with one fluffy foot. Jacko gave a few cries in his own cheer, "Aroo! Ar! Ar! Arooo!"

However, playing by himself got boring after a while, his interest faded after yet another victory by General Bunny. Deciding to play at another game, he donned his pumpkin styled helm and stood up on his legs. In his mind, he could perfectly imagine Siren beside him, arm outstretched and a wave crashing down on their enemies. He didn't know _who_ the enemies were, they were just enemies, the people that Siren didn't like.

Smiling behind the carved grin on his helm, Jacko lunged forward. Tackling the sofa with all his might as he pretended to have rammed right into another enemy, his head slamming into their unguarded stomach and making them topple over.

He giggled, jumping off the couch, knocking a few cushions down with him as he took a step back. In his minds eye, he saw a row of enemies rushing at him, spears and swords drawn, ready to impale his own small body. Taking a step back, the lower jaw of his helm dropped open, as though the jack-o-lantern helmet was opening its own mouth. Simultaneously, Jacko took in a deep breath, feeling a burning sensation build up in his throat as he collected his fires, ready to breath it all out and burn his foes down.

No, he couldn't do that. Right, of course, the evil queen had put a spell on him preventing Jacko from accessing his fire magic. The warmth in his throat died down as the fires dissipated inside of him. Instead, he quickly turned and dashed away, sliding into the kitchen- no! into the cave! Taking refuge behind a long rock that jutted out in the middle of it. His enemies ran right past him, oblivious to the sorcerer hiding, and he quickly made his exit when the soldiers were out of sight deep in the bowels of the cavern.

He couldn't see Siren anywhere, but that was okay! There was a lake on the other side of the battle field where she was at, and she would have no problems seizing victory on her end with water on her side!

He grinned as he found himself back in the central part of his battlefield, taking a few haste steps backwards to avoid the oncoming spear and then lunging forward, driving his hands into their chest, claws outstretched and leaving a nasty gash through armor and flesh. His smile never ended as he let out a few happy yips as he danced around the battlefield, avoiding blade and spear and making sure to leave his own mark on the enemies. His fighting was anything but graceful and consisted mostly of him ramming his helmet-protected head into anyone he got close to and digging his elongated nails, claws, into whatever he could. Sloppy but he was having fun with it.

The sun had already descended far past the horizon when the war was over and Jacko was on his back, panting for breath, completely worn from his make-believe battle. The living room was a mess now; cushions were strewn all over, pillows tossed about. New gashes were on the coffee table and walls thanks to him, but overall, Jacko was happy. He won the war, defeated the evil king and reclaimed his magic! It was a fun game… maybe one day he can go out and fight alongside Siren for real and defeat an evil overlord with her in real life. That'd be so much fun.

His smile turned into a frown as he pushed himself to sit up. Turning to the window, his brows knitted together; it was already so dark out… where was Siren? She should had been back by now; she should had been back ages ago. Should he... should he go look for her? She was never gone this late without some kind of notice.

The child crept towards the door, reaching towards the handle before stopping short. No, Siren explicitly said not to leave the house.

But, what if she got lost? He should go look for her then, right? No, Siren wouldn't get lost, there's no way that's possible. What if she did, though? What if Siren had gotten hurt somewhere along the trail and needed his help? What if she got stolen away?

A small whimper escaped him, worry eating away at him from inside. Siren never lied about how long she'd take before. Why would she be taken so much longer now?

He padded over to the window and pushed it open, leaning his top half out into the cool night air, he looked out at the sea. Trying with all his might to try and find some sign of his guardian, but to no avail it was just the calm sea with nothing but water as far as the eye could see. Jacko couldn't help but bite his lip in worry, where was Siren?

" _Oooooowhooooo!_ " he howled to the night sky, maybe if Siren heard him, she'd be back home sooner? " _Ooooooooowhoooo! Ooooowhoooo!"_ he tried again. The boy stayed there, howling out to the world until his throat was raw and he was coughing.

Playing a game didn't seem like fun at all now that Siren was late.

He looked over to the clock that hung on the wall. Though he couldn't understand what time the clock said it was, he could recognize from the hand positions that it was past when Siren usually sent him to bed. Had he been playing for that long? Jacko didn't want to leave the window in case Siren came in view, but, he knew she'd be upset if he stayed up past his bedtime. He wanted to stay up, waiting for her, but, the fear of upsetting her when she returned by not following one of the basic house rules won out in the end.

Slowly shutting the window shut, Jacko padded out of the main den, leaving his toys on the floor. Instead of going to his own den, Jacko went further down the hall until he reached Sirens door. Nudging it open, he was instantly greeted with the overwhelming scent of her that flowed from the room. It offered him the comfort of her presence even when she was not physically around.

His helmet dissipated in a wisp of dark smoke as he climbed onto her nest; it was much higher up than his own and quite larger, fitting for her bigger size. Though it felt the same, it was more reassuring as he felt himself being wrapped up by her smell, and he could easily picture himself curled up next to his guardian. It gave him a sense of safety as he nuzzled down on the pillow, burrowed deep under the blankets as he curled into a tight ball. It didn't take long for Jacko, already worn out from his day of play, to fall asleep.

* * *

He wasn't sure how long he had been asleep. It was still dark out when a sharp and sudden pain in his abdomen forced him away from his precious dreams. It was so painful that he couldn't help but give a soft whine as his arms coiled around his middle. Did he… did he eat something that didn't mix well with him?

Another sharp pain and he winced. Struggling to get out from the blankets, Jacko tumbled onto the floor, letting out another whine as more pain filled his senses. It took him a minute to get to his feet, but as soon as he stood up, another round of pain coursed through his stomach that had him toppling over onto the ground yet again.

"Aaah…" he felt tears prick at the corners of his eyes as he hissed through gritted teeth. It hurt, it hurt so much.

Just as he managed to get himself onto his knees, he gagged, and before he could even stop himself or attempt to reach a trash bin, he began vomit up onto the floor. It burned the entire way up as globs of red were coughed up from him, forming a mess onto the floor. He continued retching up blood and God only knew what else, his body trembling, his own arms barely able to keep him a few inches up.

Toppling over onto his side right next to his spew, his breathing became labored as bits of blood began to dribble down from his mouth. Leftovers from what he just heaved up, or a new batch all together? He didn't know. Curling up tight, Jacko wrapped his arms around his stomach, he could feel pressure on his ribs from inside, something pressing hard against his insides and something moving about under his skin.

It hurt.

He let out a loud cry of pain, his body beginning to convulse. He couldn't stop the whimpers and cries even if he wanted to. What was happening to him, what was going on? Please… someone, anyone, make the pain go away!

Despite his senses growing number due to the pain, he still caught onto the sound of footsteps approaching. Help? Please, oh please be help, please let it be her!

Jacko tried to push himself up, tried to crawl to the door, to wherever the footsteps were coming from, but the slightest movement sent him into a whole new world of agony and he let out a sharp cry as his body began to writhe.

The door was pushed open, the footsteps so much clearer and closer now. They were in the same room as him, a shadow fell over his small frame as he laid on the floor in pure pain and agony.

He opened his eyes slowly, his eyesight had become so blurred through the tears and pain that he could only see a human-like blob looking over him. Slowly it crouched down to be closer to his level as Jacko let out another cry of pain.

"S-Si….reh…nnh!" he whimpered in broken syllables, a gasp of pain punctuating each pause. Siren, please, make the pain go away. Please!

Darkness was creeping into the edges of his vision, his head was so dizzy. He began coughing violently, globs of blood being sprayed out. It hurt so much. The pressure inside him was growing more severe, his insides were at their breaking limit, bones ready to snap and organs ready to be smooshed and his skin to be ripped through by… by… by whatever it was that was bringing him so much pain! Jacko grit his teeth as he let out a hiss of air, someone was talking, but he couldn't understand the words. A hand was brushing hair from his clammy brown, another pushed his own hands from his stomach and pressed down, hard. He cried out in pain.

The world went completely black for him.

* * *

 **Authors Note:** Alright, so, AU this story is where Asura was never revived, mostly because I didn't want to try and write in the plotline where this is happening at the same time they try to stop Asura. So, Maka and co already succeeded in that mission. Also, it's kind of fun writing for Jacko, his line of thinking is somewhere between human and animal at times. I just really like Jacko.

On a more important note! So, readers, which would you guys prefer; an update every time I finish a new chapter (which is what I've done this and last chapter) or write many chapters ahead and have a scheduled update time?


	3. Witches

As Siren made her way down the road, she tugged at the shirt she was wearing in slight frustration. Glared down at the sandals on her feet and the pants that encased her legs. She felt so… confined in all these clothing. Silly a concept as that was. But it was true for her, she felt like it was too tight no matter how loose it may have been.

She frowned as she continued walking. Would Jacko be okay on his own? Probably, but she still couldn't help but worry for him. The farther she got from their home, the more she had to remind herself that Jacko had spent plenty of time alone in there when she went to the markets. Sometimes she brought him with her too, the elderly shop keepers at the stands just adored the playful boy, and seeing so many people just enjoy his company, accept him and like him, it made her like this island state just a little more.

The people here treated him better than then some of her fellow witches. Funny how that worked out. He could come out to the towns fully dressed with cape and helm, like he's ready for Halloween, and they'd chuckle and smile and compliment him. They'd go along with his antics, some would join his games.

The dirt path turned into cemented sidewalk, and she forced a smile onto her face. Well, it wasn't exactly a 'forced' smile, with Jacko on her mind it was pretty easy for her to smile and find her mood being light and happy even. The town she entered was a buzz, people moving about, talking, laughing, celebrating that fact that they were alive and well, celebrating their youth, their age. It just felt… alive in the town, and maybe it was Siren's own exuberance that was to blame, but it felt more so than usual today.

"Hello, Kahale," greeted an elderly woman with skin a darker shade of brown than Sirens own. She had a gentle, motherly smile on her wrinkled face as she sorted through some fruit that were laid out on a stand, "It's nice to see you've come to visit the town, it's been so long some of us were starting to worry that something had happened to you."

She gave the woman a smile as she picked up a tomato, rolling it in her hand to see if it was good enough, "We're doing okay, it's just been a bit busy for both of us," she said, as she bagged a few tomatoes up, maybe she could make some homemade tomato sauce. Jacko liked her pasta. She grabbed a few more vegetables and handed it off to the man selling them and fished out her wallet, "How has the family been?"

The old woman laughed a little, "As wild as ever. Michael's signed up for the upcoming surfing event, he's been quite happy over that. Everyone's been happy."

Siren nodded offering the grocer a 'mahalo' as she took her change and vegetables, "Well, I'm glad. I'm sure your grandson will do spectacular at the contest, he's a natural on a board."

She had met Michael a number times. Just reached Twenty last April, he was a good guy; the type that always volunteered to help wherever he went, didn't matter the work. He took great pride in helping others. Yet his passion laid in the ocean, surfing and swimming, and he was quite good at both, the Big Kahuna when it came to the surfing community here. He had even taken Jacko out on his board with him one time, and when he got to the beach again, Jacko wouldn't stop smiling. Surfing with Michael had been the highlight of his day.

Of course, Michael had his flaws too, one of them was that he was infatuated with Siren, something that annoyed her to no ends. If he saw her, he tried to impress her, tried to make her swoon. He was a nice boy, but Siren wasn't interested, she wasn't interested in anyone or even the idea of being interested in someone. He didn't try to force himself on her, she appreciated that, and he knew not to come on too strong, but her unending 'no's' didn't mean he was going to stop trying.

It would have been sweet, if it wasn't completely annoying.

"That he is," the woman nodded and gathered her own things, "well, I shouldn't keep you any more than I have, it wouldn't be fair to the boy if I talked to you until the sun went down. A hui kaua, tell your boy that I said 'hello'."

Siren waved the woman off and began moving through the street market, she exchanged some short and light conversations with other shoppers who recognized her. Then again who wouldn't recognize the blue haired woman who only came into town on occasion. She made sure that her conversations weren't too long; she had shopping to do and wanted to be back before too long. Not that she didn't trust Jacko all alone, but she just worried for him, and worried that he'd be lonely by himself.

Some fresh fish was up, recently caught. Siren bought a few; they were among Jacko's favorite foods next to chicken. She got plenty of fruit too from a few stands; pineapples, grapes, apples, oranges, all a good source of vitamins. Some coconuts too, their milk had a variety of benefits health wise that she wanted for him. Eventually, though, she had to pry herself from the healthier foods as she begrudgingly began gathering the ingredients for the cake she promised Jacko.

Her face scrunched up in disgust as she picked up a case of coco powder. Did she have eggs at home? After a moment of thought she confirmed to herself that she did.

Oh, how she hated this, but a promise was a promise and Jacko at least deserved to try a cake once in his life, even if the taste made Siren's own stomach churn. There was too much sugar in things like this, too many ingredients waiting to make the consumer sick, there was no nutritional benefits to it. The only reason people like cakes and cookies was the taste. She'd be damned if she let anyone under her care become a glutton for such fattening, sugary foods.

Maybe it was unfair of her, it probably was, not to mention slightly ridiculous the hatred Siren had against these things people claimed to be 'food'. But, she didn't care. Besides, it wasn't like she didn't make exceptions now and then, like today. She was baking a chocolate cake for Jacko even if she hated it.

As she was moving across the market for search of other things she could use for the cake or for their kitchen, one stand caught her eye. Pausing, Siren examined the necklaces hanging on display. Despite the small size, the detail put into them was amazing, and they were beautiful. One in particular caught her eye and she picked it up to give the necklace closer examination. It was brown and in the shape of a sea turtle. Yet there were two separate chains around it, both connected to the yin-yang on the turtles back.

"Are you interested in that one?" the older man selling them asked as he took notice of her, "It's a beauty, that's certain. You remove the yin and yang on its shell and give one half to someone you love. You can put them back in the shell, a symbolic way of showing your love and connection, as you belong together."

"I kind of figured it was one of those necklaces, not many other reasons why you could take it apart in three pieces," she pointed out, but still didn't put it away. Give the other piece to someone she cared about, someone she loved and felt connected to? Jacko came to mind and a small smile found its way to her face. He would like this, right? "How much for it, sir?"

After getting the price and exchanging money, she carefully tucked the necklace into her own pocket. The turtle on it reminded her of Kauila, a story she told Jacko over and over again at his insistence during the early days of his stay with her. It brought back memories of the boy, even smaller than he currently was, unable to speak a lick of English or Hawaiian, yet hanging onto her every word each night as she recited the legend behind the sea turtle, and sometimes she just made up stories of Kauila to keep him entertained.

They were fond memories that she would always cherish.

She wanted to give Jacko part of the necklace set, it could be a promise to him that no matter what the two of them would always be together. That they would always have each other and could always find peace and solace in the others presence no matter what fate threw at them. She wanted to give the boy something to assure him that she would always come back to him.

As she was walking away from the stand, she heard her name being called out and found herself stepping over to a small group of adults chatting in the shade of a tree.

"Kahale, it's great to see you up and about," an older man well into his forties greeted gave her a hearty pat on the back, "you've been up the trail for so long, we were starting to wonder if you'd ever come back to us town-folk. How's your keikikane doing?"

Siren forced a smile, keeping herself from correcting the man that Jacko was not her son, instead just gave a small nod, "Jacko has been well. He's been working hard with his studies."

An older woman just tutted at her, "Honestly, it's a shame that you're keeping the poor boy stuffed up in a house all the time. It'd be so much better for him if you'd enroll him in a public school, let him make friends his own age. He'd be so much farther along in his education that way," she shook her head, "I don't mean to sound rude or anything, it's just, homeschooling isn't quite up to par with trained teachers."

Yeah, like Siren was going to send Jacko off to a hoard of children who'd taunt and tease him for what he couldn't do. Didn't matter if he'd get a better education with a school, he wouldn't be able to handle it, and wouldn't like it at all. At least with Siren, he enjoyed what he learned and he had fun. Besides, it wasn't as though Jacko was dumb, he could be clever, he was resourceful, he learned things that could keep him alive, the sort of things books and classrooms didn't teach. She kept smiling though, not about to give the woman the satisfaction of letting her know the comment got under her skin.

"Jacko has been just fine how he is," she said evenly, "maybe in the future, if he wants to enroll in a public school, he can. But as of right now he just wants to stay home and learn from me, so that's what he gets."

"Wants to stay home with you?" a man cackled, "enjoy that while you can, Kahale, once he gets older he won't be able to wait until the day he can move out and get as far from you as he can."

Her hand clenched, her grip on the bags of groceries tightening, "I'm sure that's not true," she said slowly.

The woman just gave her a patient smile, "It is, all kids get so excited to live on their own and be independent, it's just a matter of time until he flies the coop. He'll leave for college, get himself his own job and start up a family of his own," she explained, "I reckon he'd start wanting more and more freedom in a few years."

"Cherish what time you've got left with the boy, you'll be having an empty nest before you know it!"

Siren just gave them all a smile, "I see," she said. She didn't want to talk to them anymore, she wanted to go, before their innocent, naive words made her do something she'd regret, "Well, I should be going now. It was nice to talk to you three."

With that, she turned on her heels and began her walk out of the market and out of the town. Her heart was racing as she went over what they had said. Jacko leaving. Of course, it wasn't as though the idea of him growing up and moving out never crossed her mind, she just did her damned best to keep from letting it cross her mind. She didn't like thinking about it for a good number of reasons. She hated the idea of Jacko leaving.

Sure, she couldn't expect him to spend all his time with her when he himself was an adult, and to confine himself to their small home. He was going to grow up and leave eventually. He would leave, and she would be all alone again.

Maybe the necklace was more for her own assurance that they'd always be together than it was for him. Maybe it was Siren who needed to be reminded that they would always be together no matter what happened and no matter how much time they spent apart.

Darker thoughts crept up to her, climbing up from the recess of her mind where she tried to keep all her awful feelings locked away. No, no. Control yourself, Siren. She couldn't go home in a sour mood, and what she was going at was well beyond 'sour', she had to stay calm. He wasn't gone yet. She still had plenty of years left until the idea of leaving would ever cross his mind. Plenty of years before he would abandon her.

The ocean inside her own soul was turning wild as her nerves began to go frantic.

Taking a deep breath, breathing in the sea-scented air, Siren felt her nerves calm, forcing her less likable thoughts down again. She was still on edge, though, the lonely thoughts, driven by fear and years of mistrust still gnawing at the edges of her mind. Her hands were shaking.

Her soul could feel the ocean calling out to her, asking her to come into its embrace, submerge herself in it, to just bask in her own element. Its deep seas were her home long before she had a house, the currents her friends and family long before Jacko. Her sole confidant, the only thing that she will never lose, the only one that will never leave. The only one she doesn't fear leaving.

Maybe… Jacko could wait just a _little_ longer, right?

Stepping off the usual path, Siren began making her way towards the beach. Eventually the dirt and grass gave way to fine sand and gentle tides overlapping the earth, the seagulls above and the hum of the waves was all she could hear. Kicking off her shoes and socks, Siren gently placed her bought items onto the ground. She could feel the warm sand slipping between her toes as she walked. Stripping off her shirt and then her pants along the way until she was clad in only the bandages she kept wrapped around her body. Free from any sort of confines. As free as the ocean itself.

The water wrapped around her, like a hug from an old friend, an embrace of a lover. She drifted out from shore, falling deeper and deeper under.

Down here she need no air. Why would she? Would water ever dare lift a finger against her? Would it ever try to harm her, drown her? No, the ocean, the waters, they were one of the two things that had never caused her harm or pain in her life. Even if she had no magic, she would give to the ocean her complete trust without hesitance and not fear it would drag her down to the ocean floor with its currents, or drown her with its absence of air.

She could feel her fears ebbing away, her very soul falling into a peaceful state. A few bubbles formed as she curled up in the water like a baby in its mother's womb. She was sinking deeper into the water, the surface but a distance image. Her soul felt strong, powerful.

Siren was home. She was safe.

She wasn't quite sure how much time had passed when she finally resurfaced, breaking through the waters lid into the fresh air above. It must had been quite a while as the sun had already began its descent over the horizon and darkness creeping into the sky. She felt blood rush to her cheeks at the realization and shame course through her body. _Shit_ , she was gone longer than she had promised Jacko.

Diving into the water, powerful arms brought her back to the shore. Reluctance tore at her body as she crawled out of the ocean. Oh, boy, Jacko was going to be _mad_ when she got home.

"It's quite time you finally came back up."

All the blood in Sirens body came to a sudden stop. Eyes wide in horror and mouth hanging open in numb shock. That voice, that _voice_! Her body was trembling, shaking, her heart racing, her mind screaming at her.

Siren was too afraid to look up, that if she looked, the dreadful confirmation would come, "A'ole…. _A'ole_!" she whispered, her voice quivering.

She could hear soft footsteps against the sand, coming closer to her yet she still refused to look. This was a dream, she was still underwater, this wasn't true. _This wasn't real_. She screamed to herself, her mind chanting, pleading, begging for this to not be real. A hallucination from stress, just someone who sounded like her, a dream!

Small feet were in her vision now, and taking a deep breath, she raised her head to face the witch before her. She took another breath to calm her nerves, forcing her expression from fear to annoyance, so to not show this this woman any weakness. She shouldn't be afraid at all, no, she had the ocean at her back. This was _her_ home turf, if it came down to a fight, Siren would tear her apart.

"You're smaller," she deadpanned, a scowl forming. Had Medusa taken over a keiki after her so called 'death'?

"And you're just as sour as always," Medusa responded with a coy smile, "now, I won't bother you with the details, only that we've still work to do. Don't think that just because the issue with DWMA has failed that our partnership is over."

It was too good to hope, too good to dream. Of course it wasn't over. Jacko was still in danger, Jacko was still at risk. _Jacko wasn't safe._

She gritted her teeth, "Of course," Siren hissed, glaring down at Medusa, and another where the dumb wolf and scared frog lingered farther away.

At least she got the satisfaction of knowing the woman was now smaller than her, and now by far weaker than her here at the ocean. There was a strong temptation to bring out the waters, drag Medusa under, drown her. But… no, she couldn't. That body wasn't Medusas, it was just a kid who got dragged into this mess, Siren couldn't drown a kid. Not only that, she couldn't put Jacko at risk like that. She could set her snakes off, kill him before the ocean took her own life.

Sorry, Jacko, but it looked like with the Queen Snake back in action, she was going to be sent on another job she had no interest in doing. Just wait a little longer until she could come back home, they'd have to have their feast and cake another time. Not that there was anything to celebrate anymore. Jacko didn't need to know that though… if he asked she'd lie and make up some new bullshit for what they were celebrating.

Taking a step back, feeling the waves lapping over her feet and ankles, she crossed her arms over her chest, "Okay, what do you need me to do now?" she asked her. Might as well cut to the chase and get whatever menial task it was this time done with, so she could go home and be done with it all. Be back with Jacko, make sure he was okay, make sure he was still safe.

With Medusa around, now the fear of being apart from Jacko for so long was making fear and worry gnaw at her.

She needed to get home, soon.

"There is a ship out at sea, I think you'll recognize it by the skull insignia painted on the hull," Medusa began slowly, a wicked smile forming, and upon that young, child-like face, it made it seem creepier than it had before when she had been an adult, "I want you to sink it, bring the ship and its inhabitants to the bottom of the ocean. It should be easy enough for you, correct?"

Siren made a face, "You're talking about something that's in water, and asking if it would be easy?" Water was her element, her very being, anything in or near water meant victory was all but assured for Siren. "Should I even bother asking _why_ you want me to go ship sinking for you, or if I do are you just going to blow off some kind of answer?"

"Let's just say there are some people on the ship that had been bothersome to me," Medusa waved her answer off, as expected not giving a full answer.

Siren gave a long sigh, turning back to the water, "Fine, one sunken ship coming right up, oh High and Mighty Queen of Bitch," she grumbled as she stepped back into the water. It took a bit of self-control to not flip Medusa and her posse the bird. Instead, she focused on her own body. Feeling it change, the fluids inside her expanding, her form changing until she was completely water, bandages now soaked and moving around her like extra limbs.

She melted into the ocean, becoming one with it. As she flowed through it along with the currents, she concentrated on her surroundings. Like a biological sonar, she searched for the ship, for a disturbance on the surface of that size. Damn Medusa, she could have at least told her how close the ship was to shore. Trying to pinpoint the exact ship needed was going to take a while.

On the sands, she would not be aware of the devious, evil smile that Medusa had as she returned to the others, or the magic she herself was unleashing and the command she was sending to her own magical creatures.

* * *

It had taken Siren some time. Even when she was one with the ocean, there was still a limit to how fast she could move. But, after many wrong ships, Siren had found the right one with the DWMA marking on it.

Sinking the ship hadn't been hard. She changed the water from its gentle caresses into a furious beater. Waves crashing onto the side, harder and harder with each one. It may had been sadistic, but Siren wanted to scare them first, make them uneasy before she went in for the kill. Before she sent them to their watery graves.

After beating the ship up a bit with waves, she had raised tendrils of water up, like the legs of a squid, they clamped onto the ship, forcing it to take on vast amounts of water. She could hear the screams of panic even from beneath the waves.

It wasn't hard to pull the ship under, there were countless different ways she could had gone about doing it. But in the end, the ship was sunk and Siren didn't care enough to see how many people were alive and how many were drowning with the ship. She did her job, the boat was down and people were stranded, some were dead even. Her job was done, she could go home and return to Jacko.

God, she hoped he wouldn't be too mad. She was way late. How many of the vegetables she bought were still there? Some wildlife had likely gone off with some of the food she bought or ate it while it was still in the bag. The coconuts should still be good though, right? They don't need to be refrigerated if they were never cracked open? It'd been a while since she had to deal with unrefrigerated coconuts, she'd have to look it up before having any or giving any to Jacko.

The sun was rising as she trudged home. But, as she reached for the door, she stopped, puzzled. It was open slightly, and she just pushed on the wood slightly and the door wide open. Did Jacko leave the house while she was gone and forget to close the door properly? Siren would have to chide him a little on remembering to close the door, she had no right to scold the child on leaving the house when she was gone for so long. She couldn't blame him for going outside, she knew she would have done the same in his shoes.

Putting the groceries on the island counter in the kitchen, Siren pursed her lips as she took in the state of the living room and kitchen. Fresh grooves had been dug into the floors and walls, claw marks, pillows and cushions thrown all over and a handful of his toys were all over the floor too. The child must had been having fun playing some game. She couldn't help but smile as she got to work picking up the mess he left and straightening out the living room. She wondered what he had been playing to have gotten so wild and lost in his imaginary world.

She should go wake him up, he'd be happy to see her home, if not a little upset it took her so long. They could make breakfast together.

Smiling, Siren stepped into the hall and approached his bedroom door, a gentle knock before she pushed it open told her that he wasn't in there. Well, if he wasn't in his own room then it was most likely that he was in her own. A warm feeling filled her chest thinking of how he'd so often come to sleep with her when he didn't want to be alone in his own room, or that he'd burrow into her own bed if she was out too late and he was tired. Well, today had been one of the 'out too late' cases.

Walking just a little farther down the hall and she slowly pushed open the door to her bedroom, being extra careful not to make any sudden or loud noises. She didn't want to startle the poor awake.

Her stomach dropped at the sight and stench that greeted her.

Blood. Staining the floor and bits of the blankets that had been knocked to the floor. A small puddle of it laid there, staining the surface, partially dried up around the edges. She could see deep grooves into the ground where he must have dug his nails into the flooring.

"Jacko…?" she whispered, even though he was nowhere to be seen in the room. Her heart was racing, a beating drum in her chest, her head felt light. This was a dream, right? _Right_? With her breathing becoming uneven, she backed out of the room, legs quivering under her own weight as she grasped the door frame for support.

"Jacko!" Siren yelled, stumbling out of the room and into the hall. Where was he? Where was Jacko?

She threw open the door to the bathroom, to the basement, to the attic. But no matter where she looked in the house, he wasn't anywhere to be found. Her blood had gone cold, chilling her to the bone as her mind began going over the possibilities. What happened, where was Jacko? Where was her Jacko?

Siren's entire body was shaking now, rage and fear coursing through every fiber of her being. Her breathing had become labored as she found herself standing in the living room. Jacko wasn't… he wasn't anywhere in the house. Had someone taken him? Did someone hurt him? Who hurt him?

She was acutely aware of footsteps approaching from behind, padding on the floor, she was well aware that they weren't Jacko's. That knowledge only served to infuriate her.

"I see you've lost someone," Medusa taunted as she walked in Siren's house uninvited. Siren didn't need to turn around to know the expression she had. She had no patience for Medusa now, she didn't give a damn if the body she used was her own or not. Siren was well past angry at this point.

All through the house, sharp cracks resonated as pipes snapped open. Water shooting out from them and breaking through the floor, and in one fluid motion, completely encased Medusa, trapping her in a tendril of water. Suffocating her, drowning her.

Siren turned around, her expression the definition of murder. Slowly she stepped towards where Medusa laid, pinned under several tons of rushing water, gagging and choking as she was denied air. The water witch waited a few seconds as she knelt before the woman, finally allowing her to breathe as the water opened up around her head, but kept the rest of her pinned. The snake spluttered and coughed, spitting out mouthfuls of water.

"I'm just going to ask this once," Siren said, slow and steady as she reached over to grab a handful of blond hair, forcing Medusa to look up at her, "Where. Is. Jacko?"

Despite the pain and almost drowning, Medusa still had the cockiness to throw her a confident smirk, as though she were the one with the winning cards, "I could tell you, but it would do you no good to go charging blindly at them," she responded. Ah, so she _did_ know where Jacko was at. Siren wasn't amused and tightened her grip, threatening to rip a clump of hair right from her scalp. Satisfaction shot through her body when she saw Medusa's expression scrunch up in pain.

"If Jacko's been stolen, I have to get him back. I'm not going to sit back while some bastard has him," she growled. She didn't know who had him, or what they would do to him, and not knowing was torture in itself.

Voice hitching a bit, Medusa narrowed her eyes, "If you go marching in on the warpath, you'll only put him at risk. Is that what you want?" she questioned, and Siren faltered. There was… truth to what Medusa said. If Siren wasn't careful, whoever had him could and would hurt him, she couldn't risk bringing him any more pain that what he must be already enduring. The snake witch saw her hesitance, and went on, "I can help you get him back," she offered, "I can help you and Jacko reunite with him safe and sound."

Siren frowned, glaring at her, "And how can I trust you?" she asked, "you're not the type to do something out of the goodness of your heart."

"Because they took my child too," Medusa responded with venom in her voice, she almost sounded like a true mother angry at her stolen offspring. Almost. "All I ask is you put your trust in me."

"You're not exactly a trustworthy person," Siren pointed out, anger was coursing through her body, but… she couldn't deny that Medusa was a good ally to have when the enemy was strong. If they had taken both Jacko and Crona, then… Sighing, Siren let her go, "The enemy of my enemy is my friend," she muttered, standing up and releasing the waters that pinned Medusa down. "Fine, I'll work with you some more, but, if I feel we aren't making progress," tendrils of water came up to Medusa again when the smaller one got on her feet, wrapping around her throat in a makeshift noose.

Medusa nodded, "Understood, now, if you'll follow me. We've quite a bit of work to do."

* * *

 **Authors Notes:** If this didn't make it clear, Siren's got a few issues, a lot of abandonment issues. Now that she's lost Jacko too, well, Medusa is going to have her hands full trying to control her. But, I can say for sure, do not piss her off or else she will dump an ocean on you. There's a reason for why Medusa has such an interest in having Siren on her side. I was originally going to write it in this chapter, but I'm saving it for a future one instead. On a final note, the Hawaiian terms; Siren lives in Hawaii, has lived there her whole life, it's not out of the question she'd feel more comfortable speaking a bit of Hawaiian while on island.

I'll see you guys Friday for the next chapter! Let me know what you think, if there's anything I can do to improve, etc. etc.

Translations;

Mahalo: Thank you

Big Kahuna: Most important person on the beach/best surfer on the beach

A hui kaua: Until we meet again

A'ole: No/no way

Keiki: Child

keikikane: Son


	4. New Home

His head felt like lead, his body felt like a semi-truck had crashed into it while going at full speed. Everything had an ache to it, an unending throb, that grew stronger the closer it was to his stomach. His throat was dry, and he tried to swallow weakly, but he could barely muster enough spit from his tongue to sooth himself. There was a faint beeping sound echoing close to his ear, irritating, agitating, _too loud,_ it hurt his ears.

Slowly he forced his eyes to open a crack, bright lights quickly entered his blurry vision, blinding him. He closed his eyes tightly, then he tried to open them once again. He blinked a few times against the light that shined down on him in an attempt to blind. Eventually, though, Jacko's eyes adapted. The ceiling he stared up at… that wasn't his ceiling. More importantly, as he turned his head to look around, this wasn't even his home. He wasn't even wearing his clothes; he was wearing some kind of flimsy gown that he knew he didn't own instead.

Where was he?

Where was Siren?

Siren!

He swallowed again, hard. Panic bubbling up inside his chest as he tried to understand what had happened, what had happened before he woke up.

What happened? His memory felt fuzzy but...focus... Siren was… Siren was late, she hadn't come home and it was really late, so he had gone to sleep in Sirens bed while he waited for her. After a while he woke up in a lot of pain. His body still hurt in the same area, but it was nothing compared to the Hellish torture he felt like he was undergoing earlier. Something else had happened… Someone... Someone had come into the house, and came to him! Two people, it wasn't Siren. What else… he didn't know, the pain had been too much and he blacked out.

He attempted to push himself up, but his body screamed in protest as a flash of sharp, hot pain erupted from his stomach. Flopping back onto his back, he let out a hiss of air through clenched teeth. He attempted to rest his arm over his stomach to see, or feel, what it was, but he was met by several wires and cords attached to it. What… what were these?

With Jacko's mind a puddle of confusion, he simply laid there on the bed. Maybe if he just waited, his body would stop hurting and he could go looking for Siren. She must be looking for him, right?

The longer that Jacko laid there, the more he took notice that there were voices. Not in the room with him, but, outside of it. It sounded like two men who were talking, and face twisting into a frown, Jacko strained to hear what they were saying. But try as he may, he could only make out chopped up pieces of the conversation.

"…Witch wasn't there… just some kid…."

"Sorcerer, right?... pretty young… There?"

"Bleeding… had to perform... cut them out of him…"

"Just in time… horrible…"

That last voice sounded like a… woman's? He tilted his head, hearing hard shoes against the floor coming closer to the door as one of the men continued talking.

"Check up on… woken up yet."

The door was opened and Jacko quickly shut his eyes. Doing his best to play dead, or rather play sleeping in this scenario. He could hear the footsteps of the three approaching the bed, and the smell of smoke attacked his nose. It took all his willpower not to scrunch up his face at the disgusting scent. Cigarette smoke, it was so different from the clean, pure smell of smoke from the fire, he hated it.

"Vitals are stable, though he's still going to be quite weak for a while," one of the men said, the smoker he reasoned when he heard a soft 'woosh' sound of smoke being blown from his mouth. A strange creaking noise followed, one that Jacko couldn't quite put his finger on for what it could be, "if he moves about too much, he might reopen the stitching, not to mention all the pain, even more of a reason to keep him under surveillance."

"It was a pretty close call with him," the other man said from the other side of the bed, "how badly was the internal damage, anyways?"

Some more creaking-clicking noises from the first one, "Bad. There was an immense amount internal bleeding as a cause of the snakes tearing him apart from inside. Ribs broken, muscles, tissues and veins torn. Nothing too permanent, he's lucky they didn't go straight for his organs. Must have wanted to draw it out as long as they could, but it will take a while for him to recover," more smoke filled the air, and Jacko wondered if the other two were as disgusted by the smell as he was, "once he wakes up, we'll need to start questioning him."

Questioning Jacko for… what, exactly? He didn't do anything wrong, he didn't even know why he had been hurting.

A warm hand came up to his face, brushing strands of hair from his face. This was… the same hand from last night. Jacko had been too overwhelmed by the pain to notice the warm, comforting scent last night, but here and now he could. Siren? No… the hand was too warm to be her normally cool to the touch one, but it felt just as familiar. Continuing to brush and stroke his head, the woman began talking.

"Do you really need to question him once he wakes up?" she asked the men, "he's just a boy, he's going to be confused and frightened when he wakes up. I think it'd be better to wait until his stitches heal more."

There was a pause and a hum from one of the two men and the non-smoker spoke up, "You raise a fair point," he conceded, "we don't know what the kid will do if we go right into interrogation when he wakes up. If we get him too worked up, he might reopen his injury, or try fighting. Not that I doubt we'd be able to take him without any problems."

"Exactly," the woman said, "he's still just a little kid, regardless of what he is or isn't, and he's already been through quite a lot."

As she continued running her fingers through his hair, a pleasant, familiar feeling dripped inside of him, warming him more than his own fires ever could. Comfort and safety. Though he knew this woman wasn't Siren, he couldn't help but feel as though she was by the familiar motions and gentleness radiating from him. A purr came up from him as he pressed his head further into her hand much like a pleased kitten during a petting session.

That was a mistake, as the woman stopped, conversations stopped, and she withdrew his hand. Before Jacko could stop himself, a whine erupted from him at the loss of contact. Well, if they hadn't known he was awake before, they knew now. Slowly Jacko opened his eyes to look warily at the three adults surrounding him.

His eyes hit the smoker first, drawn by the awful stench of his cigarette, he was able to locate the creaking noise; a giant screw was in his head. There was a screw. In his head. Jacko couldn't help but stare at it, regardless if it was rude or not. A screw in a man's head, that was actually really neat. Did that mean his head was hollow for that to happen? Was it going through his brain too? There were also stitches across his face, and he had a neat lab coat. All in all, the smoker, Screw-Man as Jacko official dubbed him, looked really cool, even if he did smoke.

The other man, Mister Red, was… actually Jacko couldn't think of anything interesting about his appearance. He looked really bland compared to Screw-Man. He wore a suit, Jacko didn't see many of those outside of the entertainment box back home. His tie was kind of interesting too, kind of. Okay, Jacko, no, Siren said not to lie so he shouldn't lie to himself either. Mister Red was completely boring compared to Screw-Man, plain and simple.

Finally, his attention turned to standing closest to him. He was met with gold, black, and a warm smile. Gold brought her hand to his head again, brushing a few of his pale blonde hair from his eyes. She was almost as pretty as Siren was, and even the eye-patch that Gold wore didn't make her any less pretty. He purred as she began petting him again, and that seemed to make her smile more, tenderness radiating from her. Jacko decided that he liked her most out of these three adults.

"How long have you been awake?" Gold asked him, voice softer than when she spoke to Screw-Man and Mister Red. Then she shook her head before Jacko could answer, "No, that doesn't matter. More importantly, how are you feeling?"

Jacko tried to shift himself to sit up, but a jolt of pain ran through his abdomen and he whimpered, one hand coming to clamp over it.

That must have been answer enough and Screw-Man gave a nod to himself, "You're going to be in pain for a while, but don't move too much, you might end up reopening your stitching," he warned, but Jacko didn't really understand what he was saying. What were stitches? "We really should thank you," Screw-Man continued, tweaking with the screw in his head, "even though they were less than ideal ways to find out, we wouldn't have found out Medusa was still alive if her snakes hadn't been tearing apart your innards."

Jacko cocked his head to one side, confused. Still oh, so confused. What was this man talking about? He didn't have snakes inside of him, right? He would have felt them if he had, right?

"Don't go saying that, you're going to scare the boy," Gold scolded lightly as she handed Jacko a glass of water from a night stand, giving him relief for his parched throat and then moved to stand beside Mister Red and Screw-Man away from the bed as Jacko downed the water.

"Anyways, what are we going to do with him?" Mister Red asked them, jerking a thumb at Jacko, "Death's already gone and warned the school about him so no one would panic, but are we really going to be harboring a sorcerer in our building? With Medusa having infiltrated us already, doesn't it seem kind of risky? The students are going to be on edge with this."

"He's in no condition to fight," Screw-Man responded evenly, "physically he's at his weakest, and even if he was completely healthy, I doubt his magic had matured enough that he'd pose a problem to anyone here. I don't think he even understands where he is or who we are; if he does realize it then he's shown no sign of it. He's far from a threat."

The other just rubbed the back of his head, "That may be," he agreed, and heaved a sigh, "we still need to find the witch we were supposed to get in the first place. Damn, we almost had her, too, our trail led us straight to her home, now both she and her trail are completely gone."

"She must have known Marie and I were there," Screw-Man mused as he blew out a puff of smoke, "the ship we arrived on was sunk while she and I were out hunting the witch down. She's becoming more and more of a problem. Countless casualties from the floods and shipwrecks she's caused, towns are struggling with the sudden droughts. The sooner we can find and stop her, the better. It's reasonable to say that the boy might even be our key to getting her."

It was as though Jacko wasn't even there anymore as the three talked. Like they had forgotten he was there on the bed with tubes and wires stuck to his arm. He didn't even understand what they were talking about, they came to his home looking for someone? Did they want to talk to Siren? He felt a little insulted that they were ignoring him for the most part. But… no this was good if they didn't notice him, right? He could get out then. Screw-Man, Mister Red and Gold were all too busy with each other.

As the group were still discussing amongst themselves, Jacko continued to fidget in his bed. He didn't get what they were talking about; surgery? Snakes? What was going on? More importantly, where was Siren? He needed to get home, she was going to be sad if he wasn't home when she was! He didn't want her to get lonely!

He hurt, every bit of movement sent a new wave of pain through his body originating from his stomach. Throbbing like a pulse, sometimes it was soft sometimes it made him want to curl up. No, he couldn't let the pain hinder him. He had to suck it up and toughen it out, for Siren. So he could get home quick he'd put away the pain he felt. Besides, Siren would make the pain go away when he got to her.

The three adults were too distracted talking to each other as he tugged the blankets off of himself. The window was open, a perfect escape route. Gritting his teeth, he sat up and brought a hand to wrap around all the wires and tubes attached to his other arms. A deep breath before he ripped them off, feeling a sharp pain run up his arm and a long beep to ring from the device one of them had been attached too.

That got their attention and all three swiveled around to face him.

"Hey- wait!" Gold yelled out, reaching out to him as he tumbled out of bed. He faltered a second from discomfort as he pushed himself to his feet, but shook it off, dashing to the window, "Don't! Come back!" she tried, running to him, hand out to grab a hold of Jacko but she was late by a few seconds as he leaped out the window.

Okay, in hindsight, Jacko should had waited to see how high up he was before diving out a window, because as it turned out, he was _really_ high up. The ground was rushing towards him, air wooshing around him as he fell. It was hard to focus with his pain growing more and more intense by the second and with the three adults yelling from the window he came from. Focus, Jacko, focus. This was no different from the giant trees.

Closing his eyes, he concentrated, feeling his magic burning inside. He focused it all on his hands and feet, feeling his nails grow and curve, becoming sharp claws. Without waiting any longer, he grabbed onto the wall, digging his claws deep into the cement. Long gashes began to form in the building's exterior, but his fall was being slowed. It was such a simple spell, but he felt his body growing exhausted at a terrifying rate. HHe gritted his teeth as his fingers and toes began to burn.

Though it had only been seconds, it felt like his descent took hours. When he finally was close enough to the ground he let go and tumbled to the ground, falling flat on the paved sidewalk. Oh, this was a mistake. His hands and feet were screaming in pain, his nails were cracked, broken, a few fingertips were starting to bleed, and his body felt like it was on fire—not in the good, actually on fire way that he liked. Everything hurt, every part of him was asking why, oh, why did he jump out a window? No… no he had to get home, he had to get back to Siren.

Where even was he? He didn't recognize the exterior at all.

Jacko pushed himself to his knees, attempting to stand but his legs were like Jell-O, and he toppled over again. Groaning, he brought his arms to his stomach, what was that smell? He could feel something warm and wet dripping down his front. The gown he was wearing was turning red, too, and the pain growing more intense. His pain was gradually climbing back up to the ranks it'd been in last night.

"I tried to warn you not to move too much," Screw-Man said as he stepped into the courtyard. How'd he get here so fast?

Gold bolted past him, quickly kneeling beside Jacko, "are you okay?" she asked, pushing aside his arms, she tugged up the bloodied gown to examine his stomach.

Wrapped around his tanned flesh were bandages like the ones that Siren wore. Yet instead of the pristine, clean, white, they were dyed a deep red, blood dribbling down as it seeped through the fabric. Was that what Screw-Man meant by 'stitches' and 'surgery'? It hurt, that's what it was. His head was getting fuzzy, and a wave of nausea washed over him as Jacko weakly whimpered when she applied a bit of pressure.

"It's okay," Gold assured him, "it's nothing serious, we'll get you patched up again and stop the bleeding."

Jacko fought back weakly as Mister Red scooped him up into his arms, apparently uncaring if the blood stained his suit or that Jacko was trying to paw him away. His blows were too soft; the exhaustion he was being hit with left him with no strength to use. How could such a small action leave him so completely drained?

A few people had stopped to watch, all eyes falling on the group as Mister Red, with Gold and Screw-Man beside him, carried Jacko back into the building. Eventually it grew too tiring just to raise his arms to try and fight off the man carrying him through the halls. His body felt as though it were made of lead, and he gave in, letting himself be carried as his head began to droop, resting against Mister Reds shoulder.

He barely registered as they were carried up flights of stairs and Jacko was laid out on the bed once again. Gold was careful to close and lock the window this time as Screw-Man lifted up his gown. Bandages were removed, and cold water was run over his stomach, washing away the blood. Screw-Man injected him with some needle, and Jacko found himself loosing feeling in the area that had previously been bleeding. It didn't hurt, it felt numb. Was that supposed to happen?

With movements faster than Jacko had ever seen, the smoker had removed from his flesh black… things? He wasn't even sure what it was Screw-Man was removing from him. He couldn't even feel it as the man re-stitched him shut.

"Try not to run off this time," Mister Red ordered as fresh bandages were wrapped around him and a new, blood-less gown slipped over his small frame. He looked annoyed, but his expression softened quickly, "Look, kid, we're just trying to help you. You can trust us, we don't want to hurt you."

Jacko glared at him weakly, "Home," he said.

"Ah, so he speaks," Screw-Man said dryly.

He slammed his fist into the bed, disrupting Gold who had been in the middle of reapplying all the wires and things that he had ripped off himself, "Home!" he shouted, glaring at Screw-Man. "Home, home, home!" tears were pricking at the corners of his eyes. Jacko wanted to go home, he wanted Siren, he wanted something that was familiar in this unfamiliar place. _He wanted to go home!_

Mister Red shook his head, "Look, kid, we can't take you back there. For a number of reasons," he said, crossing his arms over his chest, "I'm sorry, but we can't let you leave."

That was not the answer that Jacko wanted, and he felt his own anger grow. The air around him was growing warmer and dryer as he started to cry, "Home! Go! Home!" he wailed, a falling into a tantrum despite the exhaustion his body felt. Magic was seeping from his small form, heating the air, heating his body as his own temperature began to rapidly increase. At this rate he was going to turn the room into a sauna and accidentally set the bed on fire. He didn't care if he set anything here on fire, this wasn't his home.

Maybe if he was loud enough… Siren would hear him!

Taking a deep breath, he forced as much air in as his lungs could handle. He had to be loud enough that Siren could hear even if the window was shut tight. " _Aaahooooooooooooooh! Aahooooooh! Aaah! Aaah! Aaahoooooh!_ " he howled, jerking up from the bed, ignoring the pain it caused his stomach despite the numbing effect. His head was tilted back and he had hot tears running down his cheeks now. Siren, come on, Siren, please come back! He was sorry for whatever he did that drove her away! Please! He was scared, he wanted Siren! " _Aaaahooooh! Aaahoooooh!_ " he went as loud as his voice could, it hurt his voice box but he kept howling.

"Jesus Christ!" he didn't know who shouted that, but they all reeled back, as though they'd never heard a howl before in their lives.

" _Aaahoooooooh! Aaaahoooh! Aaaah... Aaaah… Aahoooh…._ " He hiccuped, trying to catch his breath as he sobbed. It was getting harder to continue howling as he let out soft cries between. His throat had an unpleasant burn to it at this point, and his sounds becoming hoarse, " _Aaahoooh! Aaahoooooh!_ "

Arms wrapped around him, cutting off any more howls as he was pulled in to a hug. Gold rested her chin atop his head, holding him tight, the same way that Siren had held him so often, with the same amount of care and gentleness. It was familiar but brought over a wave of feelings he wasn't sure what to make of. He started sobbing harder as he clung to her shirt.

"It's okay," Gold assured him, rubbing the back of his head, ignoring any discomfort she might have on his hot skin, "calm down, okay? We're not going to hurt you, you're safe here."

He wanted to fight back, to keep howling, maybe if he went at it longer, Siren would come? But, his body began relaxing to her touch. His body began to cool down and he continued crying, letting outa low whine, sniffling a bit as he pressed against her. Seeking out that comfort and warmth she had to offer.

"Why am I not surprised he listens to you," Mister. Red mumbled in the background.

After a while, when his crying began to calm down, Gold pulled away from him, much to Jacko's displeasure, but she had a soft smile as she kept a hand on him as she grabbed a tissue and began wiping his face clean of his tears. "How about we make a deal?" she offered, and he tilted his head to the side in curiosity and interest, "you stay here until you've completely healed, it'll take a bit of time, and when you're back at full health, we'll take you home?"

"That wasn't what we—" Mister Red began, but was silenced with an elbow to his stomach.

Jacko frowned, thinking it over. He'd stay here until he was better and they'd take him home? That didn't sound like a bad deal, but how long until he got 'better'? He didn't want to wait too long, if he was gone too long, then what if Siren got lonely, or what if she forgot about him? He didn't want that to happen! But, just today showed that he wouldn't be able to get home on his own with how he was right now.

After a minute of thinking, he gave a nod, "Aigh," his voice was still hoarse and it hurt his throat a little.

Gold smiled, pleased by his answer, "Good! I promise we'll take good care of you," she told him, then her smile turned into a tiny frown, "you know, we never did learn your name, do you mind to tell us? It'd be weird calling you 'boy' and 'kid' the entire time."

"Jacko. Jacko Lantern," he answered slowly, giving them the name that Siren had given him when they met. Despite being a simple name, Jacko had struggled to even say his full name, more so than usual, but that was because of how tired his voice was from his desperate howls.

Though he had mild difficulty speaking, Gold smiled again, "Jacko Lantern? That is a nice name," she complimented, earning herself a smile from Jacko, "My name is Marie Mjolnir. Can you say that?"

He scrunched up his brow as he attempted to do as he was asked, "Ma…ree? Mull…ner? M'yol? M'yol… nir?" he growled, shaking his head rapidly. He gave up on saying her last name, "Maree! Marie!"

Even though he could only say half of her name, Gold seemed happy with it, and she gave a nod, ruffling his hair a little, "Yes, Marie," the woman confirmed, "Good job, Jacko." He felt his heart swell with pride at that.

Maybe this wouldn't be too bad? Siren would be happy if he stayed safe, and despite his initial misgivings and his tantrum, the three adults here were nice. They hadn't been mean to him or done anything mean to him, in fact they actually made his pain duller and patched him up. They were trying to be nice to him, especially Gold... Marie, not Gold, Marie. He could bring himself to like it here while he waited to recover, and Siren wouldn't want him to force himself to heal faster than he could, right? She would find him and come for him if he stayed in one place, too! When he got better, Jacko wanted to introduce Siren to Marie!

He was sure that she'd like them, they did fix him up, and that was sure to win them points with her! Oh, he'd have to apologize too, he left the house without telling her, and he was going to be gone for a while. But she shouldn't be too upset. Already Jacko was more eager than before to heal up and go back home. Siren, just wait a bit longer! He was going to be back home before too long!

* * *

 **Authors Note:** With a first name like Jacko, and his magic theme, how could I not give him the surname of 'lantern'? Jacko Lantern, Jack'o'lantern. Okay, bad pun is bad pun. It's pretty obvious who Screw-Man and Mister Red are. Stein and Marie had arrived just in time to give him some rushed, impromptu, life-saving surgery at the last minute and now Jacko is on the road to recovery, which, depending on how active and restless he is, is going to take a while. Plenty of students are going to be a bit on edge, what with being told a sorcerer was staying in their school.

As always, please let me know what you guys think. I'll see you guys next chapter.


	5. Noah's Ark

Standing at the Black Seas shore, Medusa couldn't help but grin in delight as she watched the tide gently come in and ease back out. It had only been a few days since she had picked Siren up from Hawaii, gotten her to join forces with her yet again, and already she had given the young woman quite a list of tasks and mayhem to complete which she had been more eager to perform than before. Anger could do funny things to a person. Floods all over the world, ships being capsized and the waves brought them under, rivers being stolen. All at a much grander scale than what she had done while Medusa prioritized the resurrection of Asura.

While that was still the preferable option of her plan, she would be lying if she said she didn't get a good deal by having Siren as her new toy. Just the thought of all the damage she could do, it brought sensations of glee through her tiny body.

Eruka, standing a respectable distance behind her, made an audible gulp as the two watched a ship that had harbored a few DWMA affiliates be swallowed up by a rather sizable wave. Oh, how much more useful Siren was now that she had a personal vendetta against their targets.

Sure, this hadn't been her original plan. Nothing had gone according to what she had spent years meticulously planning. Her resurrection of Asura failed, and for what reason? They had been too _slow_. Well, not her specifically, Medusa was not going to take the blame for the folly of Free and Eruka. The grim reapers son and the annoying, egotistic 'assassin' had caught up to the two before they ever even reached the Kishin. It was startling that they had managed to escape in in the first place. But, not all was lost. No, Medusa still had her backup plan, a plan she genuinely didn't think she'd have to rely on.

Jacko Lantern.

Her snakes had still been sleeping inside of him, and the dumb, feral brat had never even realized it. His guardian would be completely under her thumb if she used that to her advantage, the woman would do anything if it ensured the boy would be safe from harm. But still, she only did things halfway, sloppily. She got things done to the point that they were acceptable but not to completion. She had no interest in her tasks beyond the primary objective and she could do _so much_ better if she put more into her magic. The girl had so much destructive potential, and if that potential was put to use through the unbridled emotion of rage. Her plan to unleash that anger and wrath had, of course, been stopped through an unexpected disruption in the form of a meddlesome duo. But, that only opened a better door for her, gave her a way to control that rage.

"I still don't understand the point of all this," Eruka murmured from the warm sands behind her.

Watching the violent waves crash about at sea, tossing any survivors of the shipwreck around like ragdolls, Medusa gave a chuckle, "Oh, Eruka. You poor, stupid, fool." She crooned, not bothering to look at the Frog Witch, "Do you really not understand the potential there is for us? Use that tiny brain of yours; the Earth is seventy-one percent water, and the human body's composition is made of over fifty percent water. Our dear Siren is a manipulator of said water, she has so much power over this very world, a power that she never bothered to use." But Medusa planned to change that and put that magic to its full use and glory.

"I get _that_ ," Eruka argued, jumping back slightly as a big wave crashed onto shore, then she shot a nervous look at Medusa and then to the sea, "what I don't understand is why you want her so badly. She's strong, I understand that, but how is she going to help you reach the end goal? Are you planning on having her drown everyone from inside their own bodies?"

Giving a few clicks of the tongue, Medusa turned away from the sea to face the taller woman, "You've heard of the story of Noah's Ark, correct?" she asked the younger witch, earning a noise of affirmation, "of course you have. God was angry and flooded the world for forty days and forty nights, to destroy and cleanse the Earth. It brought about a drastic change where only a select number were saved. What if we brought about another flood? Where only the worthy will survive, and with the DWMA decimated by the flood, the world will change and grow anew, it will evolve. Perhaps more so than if I had used Asura instead."

"And Jacko?"

"He's nothing more than the ignition that allowed me this chance to control her," Medusa responded, she did not care for the boy and what happened to him. But she had to admit he was useful in some ways and was perhaps the only way she could control Siren was if the child was involved, "I don't even know what's become of him. He's probably alive with the DWMA, I doubt they have it in them to kill a little boy even if he's a sorcerer. But, he's served his purpose and gave Siren a focus for her anger and hate, all we have to do is guide that wrath."

Eruka made a noise, somewhere between worry and fear. Her expression made it clear she wasn't all too fond of this plan, but it mattered little to Medusa. The woman was just another pawn in her game. She had her uses, and that was the only reason she was still alive right now, so long as she kept being useful, Medusa would keep her around, it didn't matter if she supported the Snake Witch's plans or not. She didn't have the choice.

The waves were breaking and Medusa turned around just as Siren was stepping back onto the beach. Her body semi-transparent as it kept its aquatic form. Small air bubbles in the water she was made up of now, her bandages coiling around her, the water they soaked up allowing her to manipulate them. Then, she began to 'dry up'. Whereas her body regain its solid for; the water running off of her, forming a big puddle at her feet that drained back into the sea, revealing golden brown flesh and dark blue hair as though it had always been there under all that sea water.

She had bags under her eyes, a sign of the lack of sleep she had received since Jacko's abduction, brought about by stress and worry for his safety. She was much angrier, stressed and Medusa had to confess that she didn't have as tight a leash on Siren as she would have liked. One wrong move and Medusa and her host body Rachel could find themselves drowning as she was pulled into the ocean. Or worse… the body was composed of quite a bit of water… Medusa had to be cautious with every word and action around the Water Witch.

"You did spectacular," Medusa applauded as the woman trudged forward, earning only a tired glare from the witch. "At this rate, we will be able to spread the DWMA's forces thin as they scramble about trying to pinpoint where we are."

"Kulikuli!" Siren snapped, clearly not in the mood for any sort of conversation with Medusa. There was the fury of all the seas in her gaze, and had Medusa been a lesser woman she may have flinched at the intensity. "I don't care about that B.S and roundabout way of chipping away at them, I just want what is mine back and to drown the entire school for taking him in the first place."

The clear frustration in Siren pleased Medusa, it showed that she was taking the proper steps forward. The image of all those fools struggling to survive as their precious stronghold was flooded was also a pleasant idea. But, no, it was much too early. Prolong it as much as she can, and Siren will grow angrier and angrier. She wanted, no, she _needed_ the witch at her breaking point when she was filled with so much hate and anger her soul could barely contain it. Right now Siren may be pissy, but she wouldn't go as far as flooding the entire world. Wouldn't bring about the sudden destruction and change that Medusa wanted her to.

The snake just shook her head, "It's much too early for that," she said as gently as she could, "If we go in on the warpath, without any sort of plan or strategy, not only will we stand no chance, but both our children may be killed. I _know_ the DWMA, I know how they work, and the fools will use Jacko and Crona against us."

The school could kill Crona for all Medusa cared; the child and weapon were a failure anyways. Maybe the pair could make themselves useful as spies, but Medusa had no dire need for them to survive anymore. But, she'd lie about being concerned for both Crona and Jacko because it would affect Siren. The woman had a pitifully pathetic soft spot for children, it was laughable.

As expected, the fire in Siren's eyes softened with fear at the idea of the two being executed. She ground her teeth and whirled around, back facing Medusa as she let out a cry of frustration. The sea responded in harmony as waves crashed violently onto the shore, throwing a few fish up with them. Eruka backed up in fear, but Medusa stood her ground. It was good that Siren was getting frustrated, getting angry.

"We just need to keep picking away at their defenses," Medusa reasoned, stepping forward so she was beside Siren, placing a hand on her tanned one in a 'comforting' manner. Playing the role of an equally worried guardian figure with such believability that she ought to be given an Oscar, "If we cut them off from important assets, spread their forces and taken them down, we'll be able to weaken Death and the DWMA enough that we can march on in and take back the children without fear of failure. You must be patient and trust me."

Siren pulled her hand away from Medusas and bared her teeth, "Forgive me if you're not exactly a trustable person, I still think you're hehena," she growled, but then she let out a huff. Reluctance and acceptance clear in her expression. Her hand came to hold on to the yin-yang turtle necklace she wore around her neck. A trifling, useless trinket in Medusa's own opinion but it seemed to hold some pitiful value to Siren. "Fine, fine, I'll wait, for now. But if they hurt Jacko the gloves come off."

"I understand perfectly," Medusa nodded and began walking, "we should hurry now, I want us long gone by the time teams arrive to investigate your little _mess_ ," Medusa said, casting one last look to the Dead Sea and the debris of the destroyed ship that floated in the waves, a jolt of excitement ran through her. This time, she wasn't going to fail, she _couldn't_ fail. So long as she kept Siren from reaching Jacko then victory was guaranteed.

* * *

 **Authors Note:** So this was originally going to be Chapter Six, but I decided I wanted to switch this and the next chapter around. This one isn't a very long chapter, and I'm sorry about that. Next ones going to be a bit longer as we go back to Jacko.

Hydrokinesis is probably one of the more OP powers out there, something I've come to realize. I mean, the majority of the planet is made up of water, between fifty-seventy percent of the human body is made up of water. Having someone able to manipulate fifty-to-seventy percent of my body is kind of a scary thing when you think of it. Not to mention the potential of having a repeat of Noah's Ark just become some strong hydrokinetic person was throwing a tantrum? No, thank you.

This actualy took me a bit longer to upload because this site didn't want to let me submit or save anything in my documents.

Translations:

Hehena: Raving mad

kulikuli: Shut up! Be quiet


	6. Babysitters

There was probably some kind of limit to how bored a person could be, and Jacko was pretty sure he'd already surpassed that theoretical limit. He was well beyond bored. He had hit 'bored' sixty miles back on this nonexistent highway.

It had only been a few days, not even a week since Jacko had first awoken in the infirmary bed. The three adults took turns watching over him, mostly to be sure that Jacko didn't try to get up and run off again like he had the first day of his stay. Of course, Jacko, being the ball of energy that he was, had gotten out of bed numerous times to try and alleviate his boredom, to stretch his legs, to do anything but _lay in bed_ all day. All he wanted to do was move around the room and play, he didn't even care about not going outside if he could have his fun playing indoors. Though, his version of playing tended to be a bit more on the rough side and he wound up with a few of his stitches torn by the time someone managed to get him back in bed. This of course was prolonging his recovery as Miss Mummy—whom he later that day learned was called 'Nygus', but he preferred Miss Mummy—told him.

When Jacko had first agreed to the little arrangement of his stay, he had been perfectly fine with it. He was content at the time with waiting, having assumed that his recovery just meant a day or two of bedrest. Like whenever he came down with some cold or a stomach bug at home, Siren would make him stay in his bed for a day, maybe two, and then he was fine. They'd watch things together, she'd read to him, little things so he could rest and not be bored. When that theory had been proven wrong, and he realized just how long he was going to be stuck here, Jacko's mood turned sullen and he, like any child who did not get his way, gave them a bit of attitude for a day.

The only thing that really kept him perked up was that he was certain that Siren was going to be coming any day to take Jacko home. After all, there was no way she would just sit by with him missing and not come get him. As far as he understood, the three took him away from his home without her knowing, so, knowing Siren, she would be upset by this. There was no way she wouldn't come searching for him. It was only a matter of time before she arrived, she promised him after all. She promised that no matter where he went, she'd be able to find him and come for him.

He missed her.

It had only been a couple of days, but he missed her terribly so. Jacko had grown so used to being at her side almost every day that he had forgotten what it was like when she wasn't around. He was going to try and be as perky as always, but things felt _wrong_ with her gone. His heart ached and sometimes during the night he just started howling for her. He never got any howls back in return.

It felt like there was a hole in his chest, it hurt a different kind of hurt. A lonely kind of hurt. He knew that the only way that feeling would go away was if he was with Siren again.

Sure, Marie, Mister Red, and Screw-Man were almost always around, same with Miss Mummy, but they couldn't compare to Siren. Siren was special, she was someone that no one could ever replace. She had the best smile, she knew how to make him happiest. She had been there for him when no one else was, she was the only one who ever wanted Jacko, who ever kept him. She gave him a home, she gave him safety, she even gave him love. He didn't want to lose any of that, he didn't want to lose Siren.

But! But, he wasn't going to lose her! Any day now she'd come right through the stainless door, sweep him up into her arms and smother him with hugs. She'd tell him how worried she'd been, how mad she was that he was gone, then assure him that it wasn't his fault, that he wasn't in trouble. Of course Siren would then have some words with the three who brought him here, they'd talk for a little bit, she'd make sure to keep a hold on him as though if she let go, Jacko and her would be separated again. Then, she'd pick him up and take him back home. They'd have dinner, she'd make him some chicken, they'd curl up on the couch and watch something together and she'd let him sleep in her bed with her.

So, despite how lonely he felt with her gone, Jacko knew he had to stay strong for her when she got here. She'd be so proud of him if he didn't cry anymore like he did the first day when he threw his tantrum.

That didn't mean the wait was any less boring. Come on, Siren, get here sooner! At this rate, Jacko was going to die of boredom!

Mister Red… er, _Spirit_ , he corrected himself, was sitting on one of the chairs, reading some kind of magazine and occasionally throwing a glance at Jacko. Like the other two, he was watching over Jacko until he got let go in a few hours. To keep him from leaving and to keep others from coming in, Jacko heard one of them say at one point. He wasn't all too bad, like Marie, he did try to be nice and keep Jacko comfortable. He and Marie were pretty decent people to have watch over him. The jury was still out on Screw-Man however, on that front.

"We should be getting you food in a little bit," Spirit commented as he looked up at Jacko again.

The boy perked at the word 'food', cocking his head to the side as he looked at Spirit with wide eyes, "Chic?" he asked with a hopeful look. He wanted chicken, then again, he always wanted chicken.

The red haired man just cracked a small smile, "Chicken, right?" he asked, and Jacko nodded his head, "I'll see if I can find any in the cafeteria, no promises though. But, if they have some, I'll scrounge you up a plate of it." At that, Jacko's grin grew wide as could be. He was eager for mealtime now at the possibility of getting some chicken with it. Maybe if he was lucky he'd also get some juice instead of milk!

He made a rumble in his chest, somewhere close to a purr as he nestled back into the pillows of the bed. His stomach still had a dull ache to it, but it was so much more bearable now than it had been before. Jacko couldn't even call it pains anymore, it didn't hurt, just ached, and Jacko was used to aches.

He heard a rustle from the chair and turned to look at Spirit again. The man was putting down the magazine and lifting himself up from his chair.

"I'm off to take a leak," Spirit explained as he stretched a little to get rid of his own aches from sitting for so long, "I'm sure you can take care of yourself and behave for a few minutes, I'll be back shortly," he said as he slipped out of the room.

Now Jacko was left all alone in the room, not something he got very often nor for very long.

He glanced at the window; it had been left open as to let fresh air into the room. Jacko suspected that his injuries were well enough at this point that they wouldn't tear open if he moved wrong, not if he was careful. The magic that had been drained by the snakes that had apparently been inside of him had, while not fully restored, recovered enough to get him by too. Maybe.

If he really wanted to, this was the perfect opportunity for Jacko to leave, to escape and return home on his own. He was more aware of where he was now, he could use his claws to get down from the building without causing too much damage to his fingers, and if he was quick enough he could be on the ground and moving before Spirit returned.

But, even if he did get out of the building, Jacko had no idea where in the world he even was. An English speaking country, sure, but Siren said there were more than just their island that spoke English. Even from his view out the window, he could tell the town was big, he could get lost. More so, how was he even going to get back to the island in the first place? There were too many doubts in a possible escape, and Jacko didn't need to be a genius to know that it wouldn't have worked.

No, he wouldn't escape. Jacko had resigned himself to accept that there was no point to it. He just had to be patient, then Siren would come, or Marie would take him back home herself when he was healed. So, he opted instead to just look out the window rather than go a second round at skydiving out of it.

The only good thing about his stuffy room was that he had a great view of the city from his bed. Death City he was told it was called, and Jacko could vaguely remember Siren and other witches mentioning it now and then whenever he and Siren went to those meetings among witches. Not that he really understood the significance of the place. It looked like a pretty city, he'd never seen a place with so many buildings before, packed so tight together. He wanted to be able to explore this city one day.

"Come on! The room should be empty now!"

The sudden shout from outside his room caused Jacko to give a jolt in surprise, his head snapping forward to face the door. Someone was running in the hall, someone loud. He could also just barely make out the sound of someone else running after the loud one, the softer footsteps almost drowned out by the loud boy.

"Blackstar! I told you—this isn't a good idea!" the second person snapped, not as loud as the first one, "I'm not all too happy about them being here either, but Lord Death allowed this. You shouldn't be charging into this fight, especially not without Tsubaki!"

"Psh! She's sick, I'm not dragging her into a fight when she's not well! Besides, I can handle this on my own!" said the loud one… Blackstar?

Before he could do anything, the door was slammed open with enough force that it gave a loud crack as it hit the wall, and it was a miracle that it didn't come flying off the hinges altogether. But, it had startled Jacko enough that he jerked back in the bed, eyes wide at the door with fear and confusion coursing through him. Uncertain as to what was happening. A boy much older that Jacko yet younger than Siren stood in the door frame, marching forward into the room with a proud strut and a gleam of confidence that Jacko had never seen in anyone else before. It was as though he owned the whole world.

What caught his attention most was the hair. It was blue, like Sirens, but a great deal lighter in color than her dark tone.

"Behold, I, the great Blackstar am here!" his rooms intruder loudly announce himself, a gigantic grin stretched across his face, "Prepare to taste defeat at the hands of the man who will surpass God, witch!" he shouted, puffing out his chest in pride. Didn't that smile hurt his face?

Jacko could only stare at him with wide, nervous eyes, not quite sure what to make of all of this. Why was this boy calling Jacko a witch?

A girl quickly dashed into the room when Blackstar finished his speech, grabbing a hold of him, "Idiot!" she yelled, "You're not supposed to go in here, especially not without any way to fight back!" she began to try and drag him out but he would not budge, "Blackstar! I'm serious! You can't just fight anyone you want, even if it's a witch! A… witch?"

She trailed off as she stared at Jacko, and he, in turn, stared back at her, raising a hand to offer her a wave. Even the boy looked startled when he finally took a look at the so-called witch he had been planning to fight.

"Wait, who the Hell are you? You're not a witch," Blackstar asked, tugging himself from the other's grip and closing the distance so he was right at Jacko's bed, "I mean, you're not, are you? I thought witches were girls." He turned over to look at the girl, "Hey, Maka, witches are only girls, right?"

The blonde sighed, "Yes, Blackstar. A witch is generally a female magic user."

"Sorcer," Jacko chimed in, hoping to be of some help to them by offering an explanation of what he was. Both looked at him, as though they didn't think he'd speak, and he tried again, a bit louder this time, "Jacko… sorcer."

Blackstar frowned, eyebrows furrowing up in confusion, "Sorcer? What's a sorcer…Oh! Do you mean 'Sorcerer'?" he asked, and to that Jacko nodded his head. The older boy scratched the back of his own head, looking back at Maka, "He's a sorcerer, but didn't Professor Stein say that it was a witch they had recovering in here? I coulda swore he said it was a witch."

The girl shook her head, not all too certain herself, "Well, he never specifically said it was a _witch_ that was staying in here… I guess we, we just kind of assumed he was a witch," she admitted, "I'm kind of surprised though that it's a kid that was in here the whole time—Blackstar you're not fighting a little kid," she added quickly before the boy could even bring up the idea of fighting Jacko.

Blackstar grumbled as he sat at the edge of the bed, arms crossed over his chest, "Jeeze, I wasn't planning on it! Even if he is a sorcerer, I'm not going to fight some runt! He wouldn't be a challenge at all for someone as great as me!"

Jacko couldn't help but feel a little insulted by the lack of faith they had in his capabilities and frowned at Blackstar. He wasn't some weak little kid, sure he wasn't a master at his magic, but he knew enough to get by! "Jacko strong! Jacko win!" he argued, kicking at his intruder to try and get him off the bed; though it hurt Jacko's foot more than it seemed to bother Blackstar.

A fire seemed to shine in Blackstar's eyes at that, "Oh? Is that a challenge?" he asked, sliding off the bed and looking at Jacko with an eager look, the look of someone starving for a good fight, "I mean, if you're really as strong as you're claiming to be, then I'm all up for a fight!"

Leaning forward in the bed, Jacko glared at him, preparing to jump off and duel, "Jacko win!" he said assertively, feeling the air warm up around his hands. It'd been so long since he used his magic, not counting something as small as altering his nails, but to use his fire magic, he was itching to let it out. A fight would be a good way to release all his pent up energy from being confined in the room for so long too!

He grinned, pushing himself up to crouch on the bed, muscles tensing and he prepared to pounce, he could see Blackstar tensing up too, ready for a fight.

"There won't be any fighting."

Both boys twisted their necks to stare at the doorway like a pair of deer in headlights. Spirit stood there, looking rightfully annoyed at the both of them as he walked in. Maka stood off to the side as he approached Blackstar and tugged him away from the bed, putting distance between the two boys.

"You two won't be fighting at all," Spirit said once more, giving Blackstar a hard look, "You're not even supposed to be in here," before Blackstar could say anything, he went on as he pushed Jacko to sit back down in his bed, "we don't want you causing Jacko here to open up any of his stitches, Stein's gotten tired of replacing them every time he starts playing, and if he gets in a fight they're all going to open up again."

Blackstar shrank back with an 'oh' noise, slinking back to the wall to give Spirit some space as he got Jacko settled back in the bed.

There was a strange look on Spirits face, one that Jacko couldn't put his finger on, but he recognized had crossed Siren's face a few times. Usually when she was forced to go and leave home for periods of time when she didn't want to. Almost always when she did something she didn't want to but had no choice.

"Some…thin…. Wrong?" Jacko asked slowly.

Spirit shook his head, "No, nothing's wrong," he assured the boy, "Look, Stein, Marie and I, we're going to be gone for a few days, we have a mission to do, something came up in the Middle East, we have someone to find. So, we're not going to be around to watch over you until we get back, it's kind of sudden, but, I'm sure you can handle us being gone."

The boy frowned. Spirit, Marie and the Screw-Man, Stein, were going away? But, he liked them. He was… going to be left alone again? This was like Siren all over again, what if they never came back to her? He was going to be left all alone again, were they going to leave him all alone locked up in this room until they got back?

He curled his hands into fist, unable to keep the disappointment off his face. Spirit reached forward to pat him on the shoulder, "Hey now, kiddo, it's not all that bad. I promise we'll be back. I'm sure Marie would love to tell you how it went; you like Marie, right?" the red haired man offered, "we won't be gone too long, and hey, we trust you enough that you won't go and run away while we're gone, isn't that something?"

"Jacko… Jacko no wanna be alone!" he argued as though his words would be enough to make someone stay. Surely not all three of them needed to go, right?

Spirit rubbed the back of his head, looking as though he wasn't sure what to say.

"I can watch over him."

Turning around, both looked over to Maka who had her hand raised to volunteer. She stepped forward to get closer to Jacko, "I mean, he's a little kid, of course, he's not going to want to be alone, and he's going to need someone to watch him while you're gone anyways, like any kid. I can watch him while you're gone."

Spirit had a look of relief on his face, "Oh, Maka, thank you," he said, and then turned back to Jacko, "Looks like you won't be alone at all. You're going to have the DWMA's brightest student watching over you, how lucky is that?" he asked the boy.

For his part, Jacko just looked at Maka and tilted his head to the side, "Mah…kah?" he asked slowly, when the blonde nodded, he gave a smile, "Mah, kah, Maka!" he was proud to have gotten her name right, and then turned to the boy who he almost fought, trying to force his tongue to form the words, going slowly with broken syllables, "Blah…ack…star? Star? Star!" No, Star was shorter and easier to say than 'Blackstar'. Jacko had the right to be lazy with names when it was harder for him to speak than it was for others.

"Yep," Spirit said, ruffling his hair a little, "Maka and 'Star'," he chuckled at the nickname Jacko gave the boy, "Me and the others, we won't be leaving until later, I think Marie is dropping down to visit you before we head out, so you've got some time before we leave. Maka, you might want to go see Marie, fill her in on your new task, she can let you know anything you need to watch over him."

Maka nodded and Blackstar walked back over to the bed, bending over Jacko, "You and me, kid," he began, grinning as he gave Jacko a light punch to the shoulder, "We're going to have that fight, once you're given the A-Okay, and then I'll be the judge of if you really are as strong as you're saying."

Puffing out his chest much like Blackstar had when he strode into the room, Jacko nodded, "Jacko win!" he bragged, earning a laugh from the boy.

"We'll see about that," Blackstar retorted as he followed Maka out of the room, giving out a loud laugh as he left.

Jacko couldn't help but keep smiling even as the two were gone and just he and Spirit remained in the room. It was funny, he thought, Blackstar had been ready to start a war, but when he saw Jacko it was like they were friends, he didn't understand how that worked, but he liked it anyways. He liked not making enemies. and he was looking forward to being with Maka. He wasn't going to be left alone, in fact, maybe he was going to make some new friends, that would be good. That just meant more friends to introduce when Siren finally arrived to get him. The two seemed nice, and he could see himself getting along with them if they were anywhere near as nice as Spirit and Marie.

The weapon looked at him and sat down at the edge of the bed, "Okay, so, I should go over some rules for you while we're gone," Spirit said as he drew in Jacko's attention, "First of all, you are to behave for Maka. Do as she says and don't cause her any trouble," he began, holding up a single finger, Jacko nodded to show he understood the first rule, "Second, you're stitches should be good enough that you can move around now, but you can't do anything rough. If you start feeling pain you need to stop and rest, let Maka know. If you start bleeding you come back here and get Nygus—you remember who Nygus is, right?"

"Nygus… Miss Mummy!" Jacko chirped.

Spirit chuckled at that, nodding his head, "Yes, Nygus is Miss Mummy," he agreed, a small smile ghosting his features, "But if your stitches hurt at all, don't strain them further. Don't go running off either, stay with Maka at all times. If you run off, trust me; she'll track you down. You don't want to get on her bad side either, so don't do anything you know will upset her."

The boy just nodded again, "Jacko behave," he promised.

Reaching over, the man just ruffled Jacko's short hair a bit, "I'm sure you will. All three of us are putting our trust in you to behave while we're gone," he said, standing up, "Think of this as a test, too. If Maka has nothing but good things to say about you when we get back, we might let you more mobility, you'd prefer that then continuing to stay on bedrest, right?"

The option of being able to walk and move around without getting in trouble? Of course he'd prefer that over being in bed for days at a time! "Ye! Ye!" Jacko grinned and nodded his head, showing just how much he liked that idea.

Another smile found its way to Spirits features, "Good. Now, can you repeat to me the rules?" he asked.

Nodding again, Jacko's smile never faltered. "Jacko behave! Behave for Maka! Miss Mummy if Jacko hurt!" he listed, counting off on his fingers, "Jacko stay by Maka! Righ, righ?"

Spirit nodded his head this time, "'Righ,'" he agreed, using Jacko's word to cement it, "Good. Now, we've just got to wait for Maka and Marie to arrive, and then you can consider yourself under Maka's care for the next few days."

Jacko made a few chirping noises to show how happy he was about this, or rather to just be let out of the stuffy infirmary room finally. He perched on his bed and looked at Spirit, now having another question nagging at him. "Where 'Middle Eas'?" he asked him.

"The 'Middle East'," Spirit corrected, "is a transcontinental area comprised of multiple nations. We have a few former students stationed there, and some trouble's come up that we need to check in on.."

That only raised a few more questions for him. Not counting that Jacko had no idea what 'transcontinental' even meant. "Trouble? What trouble?"

But the man just shook his head, "Sorry, kiddo, that I can't tell you," he apologized, pretending not to notice Jacko pouting, "Even if I did, it's stuff I don't want to bother you with. You wouldn't be interested in it." Well, that wasn't a fair assumption to make, maybe he would be interested in it. Jacko's pout grew, but, it was clear that Spirit wasn't going to tell him what had happened.

There was a faint knock on the door that drew both to attention and a 'that was fast' was muttered under Spirits breath. A moment later the door opened and Maka and Marie stepped in. Both having a small smile of their own as they entered. In Marie's hands was also a pile of clothing, familiar fabrics and familiar shades that had Jacko perk up in his bed as he eyed the gray and white clothes.

"I figured you might like something other than a hospital gown," Marie explained as she saw him eying the clothes and put his outfit onto the foot of the bed, "I had them all washed up so you can wear them fresh and clean."

He was delighted, to say the least. His ragged pants, his vest, his gloves and boots. Clean, they had a nice smell to them. He brought the gray shirt to his face and took in a deep inhale. It'd lost its ocean scent, but was replaced by something fruity. His cravat was whiter than he remembered it, and the colors seemed brighter, newer almost. But it was the same outfit that he loved and adored, the same one that Siren got for him.

Jacko tugged off his gown, leaving him in just a pair of tidy-whities. Eagerly he reached for the button up shirt but found himself struggling to undo the black buttons sewn on.

Laughing a little, Spirit took the shirt from him, forcing the boy to hold still as he worked on the buttons, "Here, I'll help you," he said, slipping the shirt onto Jacko and then buttoning it up.

As Spirit went about helping to get the clothes on him, Maka turned to Marie with a hand on her hip, "So, how old is he, anyways?" she asked her, glancing over at Jacko, a frown finding its way to her face as she took in his form, "He's pretty small."

Marie nodded and brought a hand to her face, "I don't think he's that old, maybe eight years old? Certainly not older than ten. It's hard to tell, and I don't think he even knows."

Giving a hum, Maka turned to look back at the boy who was now struggling with Spirit in getting the suspenders on his pants. Wiggling and crawling out of the Death Scythes grip, and being nothing more than a giggling, playful mess. It was an innocent scene, one that was hard to expect of a being born of something as destructive as magic.

"Eight sounds about right," Maka agreed softly, hands behind her back and cast a worried look to Marie, "Um, if you don't mind me asking. What happened? The mission the three of you are going on, I mean. The way it was so sudden, it sounds like something bad happened."

There was a pause of silence before Marie gave a small sigh, "Well, the witch we've been looking for, the one that brought us to Jacko, she was spotted by the Dead Sea," she explained, crossing her arms over her chest, "A couple of meisters and weapons were out in the sea on a mission and were attacked. They sent Death a message informing him of what was going on, if it's anything like the last incidents, she's drowned them already. But, it's given us a trail to follow again, and hopefully we can catch up to her this time, or figure out where she's striking next."

"The witch… the water manipulating one, right? I think I've heard Stein mention her a few times in class, she worked with Medusa, right?" Maka asked.

"That's right, and thanks to Jacko we know Medusa is still alive. We've reason to believe that the two are traveling together because of their previous alliance. If we can find one, we have a better chance at finding the other."

Before Marie could finish at all, Jacko bounded over and pushed himself to stand between the two woman. Standing tall and proud in his dark getup, he grinned wide as he looked at the two for approval.

Marie smiled and ruffled his pale blonde hair, "You look handsome, Jacko," she complimented, crouching down to his level and went about adjusting the collar of his shirt, "I think the cravat suits you just perfectly."

The boy's eyes sparkled and he gave her a full-toothed smile, making a chirping noise that could only be taken as him being happy.

Standing back up, Marie turned to Maka and fixed her with a sterner expression, "I trust that you'll be able to take care of him while we're gone?" she asked, like a mother preparing to send her child off to some relative for a few weeks.

Maka nodded to her, reaching over to place a hand on Jacko's shoulder, "We'll be fine, if I run into any trouble I'll ask Nygus or Sid for help," she assured her.

"Miss Mummy! Miss Mummy!" Jacko chimed in.

Marie's expression softened and she gave a nod, "Of course, I shouldn't doubt you," she apologized, "Jacko, you behave for Maka, we'll be back before too long." Jacko only gave a few barks in response, and she smiled, patting him on the head like one pet a dog, "Take care you guys, we'll be back in a few days' time."

With that she left with Spirit following behind, leaving Maka and Jacko alone in the small room. After a few beats, Maka turned to Jacko with a smile, holding a hand out to him.

"Well, let's not stay in here any longer," she offered, "I've got to go grab Soul, and then the three of us can go do something, how does that sound?"

Jacko stared at her a few moments, at her face and at her hand outstretched. Soul? Like the thing inside of people? Was she going to eat a soul? That… was something he wanted to see happen actually. Smile taking over his face, Jacko quickly too her hand in his much warmer one, nodding his head quickly. "Ye! Ye!" he cheered.

It was going to be his first time actually out of the room, not counting the time he jumped out the window. And as he followed Maka out in the hall, he was already finding his breath stolen by how amazing it all was.

The ceiling went so much higher than any building he'd been in before. The floors were so shiny too! Jacko could see his reflection if he stared down, it was like walking on a mirror! So many people, too! Jacko was no stranger to crowds; he'd seen masses of witches during the occasional meeting Siren went too, and whenever he went with her into the small town by their home, there were people in the markets. But these groups seemed different.

Maka was talking about something too, he assumed she was talking about the building they were in, but she had lost his attention, Jacko was more interested in taking in the funny looking décor that filled the halls. Why were there so many skull shaped things hanging around?

He nearly walked right into Maka when she came to a stop at one of the doors. His nose hitting the back of her legs and he frowned, looking up in confusion. But Maka just gave him a smile, as though to tell him everything was alright. Was this where she was getting a soul to eat?

Pushing the door open, Maka stepped in with Jacko right on her heels. The room was big, with several desks lined up. There was only one other person in the room, a boy with white hair. Maka looked annoyed when it was clear that the boy was sleeping, and Jacko only felt curiosity as he followed her up the steps to reach the row the boy was at.

He was snoring lightly, a thin trail of drool coming out of his open mouth as he used his arms as pillows. Jacko stared at him for a few seconds and then turned to Maka, watching intently as she picked up the book that was on the desk beside him and raised it high into the air. Her expression was that of pure irritation, mouth curled into a frown and brows scrunched up like Sirens face got whenever she was talking to people she didn't like.

With a movement so fast that you'd miss if you blinked, Maka brought the book down hard onto the boy's head. The sound the connection made echoed in the room and was enough to make Jacko fall to all fours and back away in fright as the boy howled in pain, hands clasping his head tightly. That was more violent than he thought, and the boy looked like he was in a bit of pain too.

"What the Hell, Maka?" the boy demanded, rubbing his head, red eyes glaring at her.

Maka just put the book down and gave a huff, "You were sleeping," she answered as though it were obvious, "You're not supposed to sleep through detention, even if the teacher up and left."

He growled, moving to stand up, "Fine, whatever," he grumbled as he took a backpack and slung it over his shoulder. As the boy was pushing his chair in, he caught sight of Jacko hiding behind Maka and raised an eyebrow, turning back to his meister, "So, uh, who's the kid? You didn't go and adopt someone while I was in here, did you?" he asked.

Ignoring the second comment, Maka moved to the side so that the boy had a clear view of the sorcerer, "This is Jacko," she introduced, "He's the one the professors brought up, about a magic user currently under DWMA's care. I'm going to be watching over him while Stein and the others are on their mission. Jacko, this is my weapon partner; Soul."

Soul…? Oh! So _that's_ what she meant about getting a soul. Not a soul, but Soul!

He smiled, pushing himself onto his legs again, "Hi!" he greeted, if the boy was friends with Maka, then he was nice, right?

The boy, Soul, flashed Jacko a smile showing off teeth that had the child in awe, "Well, it's nice to meet you, Jacko. Try not to die of boredom though while you're with Maka. She's not exactly the queen of fun if you know what I mean."

"Soul!" Maka chided, shooting him a glare.

"Just telling it as it is."

"I can be fun if I want to!"

"Keep telling yourself that."

As the two went back and forth with their banter, Jacko watched and smiled. Unable to keep hold back his laughter as he brought both hands to cover her mouth, muffling his giggles by a little. These two were at the very least quite funny. He could say with confidence that he liked them already.

Hearing his laughter, the two faltered in their lighthearted argument to turn their focus to the boy, both sharing a small smile.

Bringing his hands into his pockets, Soul trudged forward past the two, "Well, I don't know about you guys but _I'm_ starving. How about we catch some lunch?" he asked them as he pushed open the door and held it open for the two, "I'm thinking maybe we can treat ourselves, go out for food."

Food? Oh, right, with all that happened Jacko had almost forgotten that Spirit never got a chance to get him some lunch. His stomach growled at the mere mention of a meal, loud enough for both Soul and Maka to hear.

"I think that answers for you," Maka commented as she held back a small laugh, "come on, let's get some lunch." She held out a hand for him which he eagerly took hold, practically bouncing as he walked, following where they led. Maybe whatever place Maka had in mind would have some chicken!

* * *

Being able to breathe in fresh air and feel the sun on his skin was amazing, no it was beyond amazing! Jacko felt even more energy course through him just from the joy, the sense of freedom. He babbled as they walked, words that neither Maka or Soul could understand, and swung his and Maka's linked hands about. A few times Soul chuckled as though he understood what Jacko was saying, and Maka nodded like he was speaking perfectly understandable English (or any human language for that matter).

He was steered to a small shop and lead to a both with red cushiony seats that would be easy to slide off of. Soul even grabbed him some crayons and a coloring sheet, which Jacko went right at like a starving tiger to a piece of freshly cut meat. It was an ocean-themed sheet, underwater with turtles and fishies and bubbles. It made Jacko feel a little homesick. He wanted to show Siren the finished project when everything was colored, she liked ocean stuff, he's like the colored page.

So engrossed in his drawing Jacko didn't even notice Soul and Maka order food or the waitress leaving. Just as he was starting to color the water, he was startled when a tall glass of apple juice was put in front of him. The waitress gave him a smile before leaving which he readily returned.

"That's looking pretty good," Soul commented from his spot across from Jacko.

He beamed with pride, face full of smiles and eyes sparkling at the praise, "Ka-we-la," he explained, pointing to the turtle on the page. "Ka-we-la turtle."

"Ka-we-la? Oh! Kauila, the sea-turtle myth, right?" Maka asked, and Jacko nodded his head quickly to confirm her question. "Well, I think you've made her look very beautiful," she said approvingly, "she'll be proud if she saw it."

Before Jacko could say anything the waitress returned. She slid a steaming pizza and basket of breadsticks onto the table and after exchanging a few quick words with Maka and Soul was on her way again to help another table. Jacko stared at it curiously, tilting his head and trying to wrap his mind over what he was supposed to do. It was a food he'd not had before, one of the foods Siren was strongly against him eating. But the other two were digging in like it was no big deal.

Soul cast him a look when it was clear Jacko hadn't made a move to touch anything and pointed at him with a breadstick, "Go on, eat up, don't need to be afraid it's not going to bite you," he remarked, biting into the slick stick, "you're hungry, right?"

He nodded and hesitated, reaching over to grab one of the pizza slices. Several strands of cheese hung over the edges, and he could feel the grease on his fingers as he held it precariously, he could _smell_ the grease even with the overpowering odor of everything else. It glistened atop the cheese and pepperoni, but he seemed to be the only one who noticed it.

Well, nothings gained if you aren't a little adventurous.

He took a bite, not minding how hot it was as he carefully chewed. After he swallowed down his first bite, his eyes had stars in them and he gobbled down the rest of his pizza at record speed. It was _good_. Even the breadstick was good, great even! He must have looked like a starving animal with how fast he tore into his food.

"Slow down there," Maka laughed, "the foods not going anywhere."

The pizza was delicious, and he couldn't help but wonder at first why Siren didn't like it. Jacko certainly enjoyed it, it tasted amazing. Unfortunately, his body was so unused to so many greasy foods all at once that he got sick before he even finished his third breadstick. Soul had to rush him off to the bathroom before he threw up everything he ate.

He had never had anything that counted as 'junk food' before, nor had he ever vomited in a public bathroom before. Jacko didn't recommend the second one.

Soul helped clean him up, wiping his face down with a damp towel and helping him rinse the acidic taste from his mouth. Maka had been waiting by the door the whole time, and when Jacko exited the bathroom, the smell of pizza hit him like a tsunami. His face paled and he put a hand to his mouth as though he might puke again.

Figuring that it'd be best not to stay in there any longer, Maka paid for their food and they left. Jacko's legs still felt wobbly, his stomach still churning a little, he didn't think he'd have the strength to make it back to his room after that small accident. Soul solved that by picking him up and carrying the boy on his back.

Jacko wasn't sure what happened after that. He fell asleep halfway through the walk back without meaning to.

* * *

 **Authors Note** : So I was originally going to put down and state that the pizzeria they are at is Fish Stew Pizza but I decided against it. But, hey, Jacko's now gotten his first taste of a greasy, hella unhealthy food! It did not sit well with him, but now he's gotten a taste. Jacko is just going through babysitters at an alarming rate. Though, I personally think that even though he's a sorcerer, the main cast would, for the most part, be okay with him because he's just a little kid. I mean they accepted Crona so readily when they had been an enemy of the DWMA prior. I don't know, my logic might be wrong.


	7. Homework

When Jacko woke up, he was on a couch. For a few moments, while his mind was still caught in the trap that was sleep, slowly booting back up to working order, he thought himself back home. That everything that had happened, Marie, Spirit, Stein, and even Maka and Soul, him leaving home and the surgery, that it was all just some strange dream. He probably just fell asleep on the couch while waiting for Siren to come home. Opening his mouth wide to yawn, he stretched, arching his back as far as it could and feeling his muscles strain, loosen and joints pop. A blanket that had been draped over him slid off to the floor as he sat up, blinking a few times, he took a good look of his surroundings.

There was a cat on the armrest of the couch. A hat-wearing cat.

Jacko blinked, then he blinked again to make sure that he wasn't seeing things as he stared at the cat. A few seconds passed and then he smiled wide, reaching for her. "Kitty!" he exclaimed.

"Good morning to you too," the cat responded, making him falter a bit. Cats could speak, he knew that, they had their own language of meows and yowls. But a cat speaking English was a first for him. A really, really neat first.

"Kitty…speak?" he asked, tilting his head as the cat came closer to him.

She nodded, sitting down beside him on the couch, "I can do more than talk, but you're a bit young for any of that," she answered, and he made a noise of confusion, but she just held out a small black paw, "My name is Blair, and what's yours, Magic Boy?

Taking hold of the paw between two fingers, he gave her a handshake. "Jacko," he said, smiling as he reached over with his other hand to pet her dark fur, "Blair soft!"

She gave a light laugh as she let him pet her, "I know, have to keep myself well-groomed after all," she winked, and after a few minutes of petting she jumped off the couch, "Maka suggested that you might want to brush your teeth when you woke up. So let's get you doing that, up off the couch, Jacko."

Obediently he slipped off the couch and followed her through the apartment until they reached the bathroom. An unopened toothbrush packet was on the counter for him along with a tube of toothpaste. Looks like Maka had already prepared for him before she left.

Where were they, anyways?

"Where Maka? Soul?" Jacko asked as he opened the toothbrush and stuck some paste onto it. Looking at his reflection, his pale hair was even messier than usual due to having just woken up. He ran the toothbrush under the faucet water and got to work scrubbing at his teeth.

Blair jumped onto the counter, her tail swishing back and forth as she watched, "They had to go back to school. Lunch only lasts so long," she explained, "Dropped you off here since it was on the way. They should be back in a few hours."

He let out a muffled whine, a few hours? That was too long!

Spitting out a glob of toothpaste, he made a face, "Come sooner?" he asked her before sticking the toothbrush back into his mouth. The paste had a very strong minty flavor to it and made his tongue tingle.

The cat shook her head, "No can do, sorry," she answered, "Maka won't miss class if she can help it."

Rinsing the toothbrush and putting it with the others, Jacko grabbed a towel from the rack and patted at his face. Hiding his disappointment through fluffy fabric.

Blair offered a placating smile, "Hey, how about I give you a tour of the apartment?" she offered, and he perked right back up at that. Dropping the towel back in place, Jacko nodded his head and Blair gave a laugh, "Eager? Okay, it's not that big, but it's fun enough," she hoped off the counter and Jacko followed her out the door.

First was the living room, which he was already acquainted with from sleeping in. But the kitchen was the next stop, and Blair had to stop Jacko from touching the oven in worry that he might turn it on and burn himself. But, there was no need for that! Jacko could handle burns, he was a tough boy! Blair laughed when he said that out loud.

Maka's room was nice, there were so many thick books, he figured that they could make a very good book fort from them all. Maybe he could ask Maka to make a book fort with him when she got back home from 'school'.

Soul's room was next. It wasn't as neat and tidy as Maka's, but it had its own charm. His clothes were scattered on the floor and bed was unmade. There was a strange scent from the room as well, one that he couldn't exactly place but it was kind of awful. Papers and a few magazines were strewn about as well.

Blair jumped onto the desk and pawed at some of the loose papers laying on there, making a tsking noise.

Standing up and leaning onto the desk, Jacko stared at the papers and then at her, making a low keening sound as he looked back at the papers. Not even sure what they were other than white paper with scribbles meant to be 'letters'. He glanced back at Blair, "Soul?" he asked.

Tilting her hat forward, the cat shook her head, "His homework," she answered, "looks like he forgot it, not going to be good for him."

Jacko whined, looking at the pages, not good? Was Soul going to be in trouble because he forgot these papers, these 'homeworks'? He pouted as he looked at the pages, did Soul forget them because he was with Jacko? Did Jacko make him forget his 'homework'?

He was thrust back to attention when a small paw bopped him on the face, and he turned to look at Blair who was staring back at him with her ears twitching. "Come on, what's with that gloomy face?" she asked, tail twitching as she sat down, "Nothing you can do about it, Soul'll just have to take it with him tomorrow."

Jacko nodded slowly, he didn't really understand how this homework thing worked, but, it still didn't sit well with him. But Blair leapt off the desk and began moving out of the room, pausing at the doorway for Jacko to follow, so he had no choice but to leave the papers as they were.

He was brought back into the living room with Blair coming to sit on the couch, their tour concluded. The apartment was so much smaller than his home, but it had a comfy feel to it. Maybe it was the décor, maybe it was just that it was where Maka and Soul were. Funny, he hadn't even known them for a full day and already he felt attached to the two students. Siren would be scolding him for trusting strangers if she were here.

Siren...

The needle of loneliness in his heart was given a rough twist, and he frowned as he sat on the couch and drew his knees close. He still missed her. She was just… taking her time to come pick him up, that was it. Just had something slowing her down.

He made a small whine, and Blair padded over closer, "You okay?" she asked, and Jacko nodded slowly.

"Miss Siren," he answered. The idea that the cat might not know who Siren was didn't occur to him, and if it did, it didn't matter to him. He rested his chin on his knees, puffing out his cheeks, "Siren… Siren come, for me, Siren come!" he added, assuring himself.

There was a pitying look on Blairs face and she sat down next to him, curled up on his lap. Jacko smiled as he began running his fingers through her fur once more, enjoying the soft texture. It was relaxing, and was able to take him away from thoughts of Siren. He still found himself thinking about Soul and those papers. Just how important were they?

Eventually, after a while Blair got up to move about, something about needing to use the restroom. Jacko watched her go and turned to face the door to Souls room. Maybe Jacko could… Maybe he could bring Soul those papers?

Yeah! He could do that! Soul needed this 'homework', and Jacko could bring it to him! That'd make the guy happy, he was sure of it! Plus, Blair made it sound like Soul needed them, so by bringing them to the weapon, he'd be doing something good! And, even more, he'd get to spend more time with Maka and Soul. Not that Blair was bad company, but, he wanted Maka and Soul too, he could bring them back to the apartment so all of them could play together!

It was the perfect plan!

Walking back into Souls room, Jacko examined the papers on the desk, though he could make little heads or tails of what was actually written on it. Nor could he tell out of the mess of pages which ones were important and which ones were not. Deciding on them all being equally important, he stood up and neatly gathered them all into a nice pile and gingerly took them off the desk. The first part was set.

He went back into the kitchen after that, looking around for something to carry the papers in safely. There was a small holder of plastic shopping bags hanging in a closet whose door was left open. Yes. Perfect.

Getting a bag was a _bit_ harder. Jacko was far too small to reach it on his own. But pulling a chair over the small distance fixed that problem and soon enough he had the stack of papers in the bag, tying it shut even just to be extra safe. A perfect makeshift container for something so important as Souls 'homework'.

"What're you up to?" Blair asked, standing before him.

Turning around, Jacko offered an innocent smile as he held up the plastic bag, "Soul!" he responded in as chipper a tone as usual.

But Blair didn't return his smile, instead hers just dropped into an uncertain frown, "I'm not sure that's a good idea," she began slowly, "Maka wanted you to stay here until she got back. So why don't we play something instead? Soul will be okay without those silly papers," she brought a smile back to her face.

Jacko shook his head, shaking the paper filled bag, "Soul!" he insisted more firmly. Blair had made it sound like Soul had really needed those papers, he couldn't in good conscious just _not_ go and bring them to him! He was sure Maka and Soul would be okay with him if he disobeyed them for a good cause, and he'd be with Soul too!

"He's going to be okay, it won't be the first time he's left his homework here," Blair assured him, and the boy found himself floating in the air, telekinesis? This was fun, even if it was getting in the way of his 'mission'. She carried the stubborn boy like that back into the picking the living room, dropping him onto the couch, "How about some cartoons? I can make you some snack too. Your stomach isn't still queasy from the pizza, is it?" she asked.

Crossing his arms, he puffed out his cheeks in a pout, then hesitated. Slowly he lowered his arms and shook his head to her question. "Snack?" he asked. He _was_ a little hungry after throwing up and emptying himself of all his stomach contents. But, maybe something light, and lacking in grease would be preferable. No more pizza.

She smiled, "I'll go make us some sandwiches, you're not allergic to peanuts are you?" again, he shook his head. She turned on the TV and flipped the channel until it reached one of the innumerable 'Power Rangers' shows. "Just stay there and enjoythe show and Blair'll be back in a jiffy!"

Jacko waited a few moments, listening intently to the sound of her rummaging through the kitchen as he slowly, silently slid off the couch and took hold of his plastic bag. He felt guilty doing this, tricking Blair like this, but he had to find Soul. He wanted to go get Soul these papers, so, it wasn't like he was being a selfish kid, right? Pausing at the door, Jacko glanced back to make sure that Blair was still distracted by preparing the food before he slowly opened the door.

He hesitated in the threshold. On one hand he was being a bad kid by running off like this, and Jacko didn't want to be a bad kid. On the other, this would help Soul, right? Taking a deep breath, Jacko took a step forward.

"Hey! Jacko! Where do you think you're going?" Blair called to him, making him freeze in his spot. Twisting his head around, he saw the cat was no longer a cat but a tall woman with hands on her hips and peanut butter on her finger tips. She had a frown and though she didn't look angry, she did look exasperated. He wasn't too surprised by a transforming cat, with a world full of magic, it wasn't that strange an occurrence. But, he did feel guilty.

He swallowed, hard. "Jacko sorry!" he squeaked out and just _bolted_ out of the door way.

Running, now that was something Jacko was _good_ at. Something he prided himself was just how fast he could be and his stamina was incredible. Maybe it was because he was an exceptionally energetic being, maybe it was because he had spent so much time running for most of his life that he'd just gotten so good at it. But, whatever the reason was, it certainly was being put to (hopefully) good use right now as he scrambled out away from the apartments as quick as he could.

First thing was first, he had to loose Blair. Now, she was a cat so she could follow his scent trail, could she do that while in human form? He wasn't sure about that, but risks were best to not be taken. Which meant he had to find a way so that she would lose his scent. From his walk with Soul and Maka, he couldn't recall any bodies of water that he could rush through, so maybe if he wormed his way through enough people, the scent of everyone else would overpower his own.

At least the streets were relatively crowded.

He dashed onto the main roads, increasing speed until he was running on all fours, his boots and gloves protecting his hands and feet from the hard, hot pavement and the bag was held firmly by his mouth. Sure enough there were plenty of people on the roads, and he made it a point to dive right into the crowds of them. Siren would have been appalled by that if she were in his place, of course she would, she never was good with crowds, but Jacko wasn't Siren.

He could hear Blair calling out, chasing after him, and taking a chance, he dived out of the mass of people on the sidewalk into a narrow alleyway. The people should slow Blair down by the thickness of the groups, giving him time to put in distance.

The boy rushed through the dirty, dark area, clambering over some trashcans and climbing over a fence. His landing was less than graceful as he landed on his back. But that was okay, he was okay.

Okay, now, he just had to find his way back to that big building he had been kept in. That wasn't too hard, the place was so high up he could see it from probably anywhere in this town. Hopefully Blair didn't catch him before he reached safety, he didn't want to have to use magic just so he could get away from her.

Pushing himself onto his two legs, Jacko took the bag in his hand and began walking towards the school.

* * *

Reaching the final step, Jacko let out a heavy breath as he toppled over to his side. His ribs hurt, his legs hurt, and he wasn't sure how people could make the ridiculous stair climbing on a daily basis. It had been a long while since he had to do anything of the sort before too. Had he gotten out of shape since he began the comfy life with Siren?

Taking in a deep breath of air, Jacko pushed himself onto all fours again, walking about like a dog for the balance it offered, only to freeze a few steps in. Rounding the corner, he saw a somewhat familiar mess of pink and felt his heart soar a little.

New energy flowed through him and he ran forward, rushing towards the figure as quickly as he could. It had to be her, it just had to be, right?

Letting out a few barks, the one he was chasing after stopped in place and turned around, eyes widened in shock and surprise as Jacko rammed into her legs, sending them both toppling over to the ground in a pile of flesh and clothing. He was the first to recover though, pushing himself up so he was perched atop her, a smile stretched across his face.

"Kimi! Kimi!" Jacko greeted the witch. What was she doing here?

Honestly, Jacko had only ever met Kimial Diehl a few times and those had only ever been at meetings, and out of the handful of times Siren and he had gone, she had been in attendance just a small fraction of the time. He had assumed she was like Siren and didn't attend Witch Masses on a regular occurrence, and like Siren she had always brought a 'non-witch' with her. He'd only ever spoken to her once, when he wandered off at his first meeting to explore, curious of all the witches. Siren had been in a frenzy, but Kimial had been nice enough.

Now, seeing her outside of a witch meeting, outside of her outfit he was more familiar with, it was a surprise. A pleasant surprise. A familiar face, someone of the same kind as he was. Someone he had already known before being brought here.

Someone who might know where Siren was.

"Jacko?" Kimial asked, her voice broken with fear. Why was she afraid? It was just Jacko, and he wasn't scary! "I know they said they had someone here, but… but it was _you_? Oh, oh this isn't good," she muttered to herself.

Confused, Jacko tilted his head to the side, "Kimi?" he asked. Was something wrong, what was wrong? "Kimi okay?"

She forced a smile as she pushed him off her so she could stand, "I'm okay," she assured him, brushing off some dirt from her uniform, "And… it's not 'Kimi' or Kimial. Can you call me 'Kim' here?" she asked.

He blinked, not sure why she would request that, "Kim?" he repeated. Okay, he could call her Kim, no problem, take off one letter and it was easier to say, not as fun, but, he had a more pressing matter to bother her about than the name change, "Kim! Kim! Where Siren?" he asked, bouncing on his heels, looking up at her expectantly.

Kimial… no, _Kim_ , bit her lip, leaning back with reluctance, "Siren is… I don't know," she admitted. It was a boldfaced lie that went over Jacko's head. "But, Jacko, it might be better if you just… forget about her? You'll like it here at the DWMA more, it's…" she trailed off unfinished with a nervous air around her as she looked around.

Something was up and Jacko frowned.

"Forget… Siren?" he repeated, cocking his head to the side and the picture of puzzlement. How could he forget Siren, how could anyone even _suggest_ he forget about her! Narrowing his eyes, Jacko quickly shook his head, "No! No forget!" he refused, stomping at the ground and puffing out his cheeks in frustration at the idea.

Kim flinched as his volume increased and looked around to see if anyone had heard him. When it was clear there was no one paying them mind, she relaxed and looked back to Jacko. Still nervous of his presence, and Jacko couldn't understand why.

"Okay, no forgetting about Siren," she relented, a forced smile taking her features as she crouched down to be level with him, "Siren will be here eventually, anyways, to take you home," she admitted, followed by a muttered 'for better or for worse'.

At that, the boy smiled wide, pleased to hear someone else say it.

"Do you mind me asking why you're here? I mean, you're supposed to be in some room, right, why are you outside?" she asked him.

In answer, Jacko held up the plastic bag and gave it a shake, "Soul!" he chirped.

She looked at the bag and then shook her head, "Why am I not surprised he and probably Maka got roped into babysitting you?" she asked under her breath, then looked up at Jacko, I take it you're trying to find him?" when Jacko nodded, she tilted her head to look at the laughing sun, thinking hard, and the boy waited patiently for her to speak. After what felt like forever, she turned back to him. "How about this," she began, "I'll help you find him, and in exchange can you do something for me?"

Jacko tilted his head, what sort of thing could she ask for him to do? But, well if it got him to Soul faster. "Ye!"

A ghost of a smile formed, pleased with his answer she gave a small nod, maybe to him or maybe to herself, "Okay, I'll take you to the classroom, and in exchange, I need you to act like you don't know who or what I am."

Jacko frowned, confused by that request, "Kim?" he asked.

But she continued on talking, glancing nervously behind herself to ensure that no one was listening, "You've never met me before. I'm not a witch here, I'm just an average meister. You can pretend that, right? You won't blow my cover, will you?"

Pretend she was something she wasn't, was this some kind of game? Jacko could play games!

After a moment of silence Jacko came to a decision and gave a small bark, nodding his head, "Jacko no know Kim!" he confirmed.

That was clearly the right answer as a look of relief washed over Kims face and she stood up, giving a small laugh and shaking her head. "That was easier than I thought it'd be," she said softly, letting out a breath she had been holding. Looking back to Jacko, she held out her hand to the boy, "Well, I did say I'd help you get to Soul, right? He should be in class right now."

Jacko made a happy noise as he latched onto the offered hand, a bounce in his step as he and Kim started walking.

It had just been a few minutes. They went into the familiar halls and Jacko was distracted once again by just how shiny the floors were, watching their reflection in the tiles and looking at the screens that hung above. Before he kenw it, they had stopped.

"And here you go," Kim said as she let go of Jacko's hand in front of a classroom door, "Soul and Maka are in here, though I don't know about you barging in, but it's your choice," she added with a slight shrug, rubbing at the back of her head.

Jacko flashed her a big smile, "Thanky!" he chirped.

She looked away, "Yeah, whatever, don't mention it. Seriously, don't bring this up to anyone," she said making a strange expression before glancing back at him, "But, okay, remember; you've never met me before, you don't know what or who I am. Can you remember that?" she asked him, there was worry in her eyes, a tint of fear.

He didn't want to let her down and nodded his head quickly, "Ye! Jacko promise! Never met Kimi!" he confirmed with his expression the picture of determination. He blinked at his mistake and shook his head, "Kim, no Kimi. Never met Kim."

"Good," Kim breathed and gave him a small pat on the head, "Well, have fun. If I hear anything about Siren, I'll let you know."

She walked away with a slight wave and Jacko turned back to the door. Soul and Maka were in there, and he looked at the plastic bag in his hands, hopefully he wasn't too late in delivering it. Kim said they might be upset if he barged in unannounced, but, it was going to be okay. He was confident that everything would be okay!

Puffing out his chest, Jacko pushed the door open and stepped inside.

Voices stopped and eyes fell on him. There were a few more people than he was expecting in the classroom, but hey, no problem. At the front of the room was Zomzom Man, who looked relatively surprised as Jacko strode into the spacious classroom like it was no big deal. Jacko flashed him a big smile and a wave as he closed the door behind himself.

He could hear people whispering amongst themselves and he scanned the rows, looking for the familiar faces in the mass of students. He recognized BlackStar in one of the rows and gave a wave before he spied a familiar white and blonde pair and his expression brightened.

Letting out a happy bark, Jacko hurried up the steps, bounding up on all fours and pushing past a bald student and another wearing a suit. Stopping only when he was crouched gleefully in front of Soul, plastic bag held out proudly for him to take. "Soul! Soul!"

"What… What are you doing here?" Soul asked, eyes wide and glancing at the students all watching them. Tentatively he took the bag, "This for me?" he asked, untying it and reaching inside. Taking out the papers, he shifted through them. Red eyes widened and he looked at Jacko and then back to the papers.

"Yous! Homework!" Jacko explained.

Maka leaned over to looked at the papers and then back at Jacko, "You came all this way to give him that?" she asked, and the boy barked happily in agreement. Taking a deep breath, she shook her head, "Well, you're Soul's lifesaver, but, please don't go running around town without one of us again, okay?" she asked.

At that, Jacko deflated, making a low whine sound, "Sorry…" he mumbled.

Her expression softened, "No, it's okay," Maka assured him, then looked around the room. Students were still staring and whispering about the sudden disruption and her cheeks were growing pink at the attention, "Do you think you can make it back to the apartment on your own? If not, you can just go back to the infirmary and I'll pick you up when class is done?"

"Or he can just stay," Sid cut in from his spot in front of the class, "I don't see a reason he can't sit in for the lecture, since he came all this way to give Soul his homework." A pointed look was directed at the white haired boy as he said that, before turning back to Jacko and Maka, "Well, what do you say?"

Jacko stared at him, blinking. He'd never been in a class before, never been in a lecture before. This was all new, what was even going to be happening in here? It was exciting.

A wide grin broke across his face and Jacko nodded his head furiously, "Jacko stay!" he answered, then quickly turned to Maka, looking for approval, "Jacko stay?" he asked her, waiting for confirmation. She was in charge after all, if she didn't want him to stay, he couldn't stay.

Maka just pulled out an empty chair that had been tucked in on her other side, patting at it for him, "You might want to take a seat, unless you plan to stand for the entire lecture?"

Barking happily, Jacko quickly climbed into the chair, buzzing with energy and holding an undying smile as he practically glowed with joy. A few laughs echoed in the hall, and Sid waited a few solid moments before returning to his lecture, pointing at things scribbled onto the board. Jacko did his best to pay attention and follow the gibberish being spoken. He even took a paper from Maka and started writing 'notes' along with the class.

His smile never faltered for the next hour.

* * *

 **Authors Note:** This chapter was a pain for me, plain and simple. I was honestly having more fun working on the next chapter than this one. Sorry if the quality is a bit poor, wasn't as invested in this one as I was in the last and next one. But, hey, a wild Kim appeared and I've _hopefully_ tied up any potential plot holes with that bit. Hoping the next chapter is a bit better than this one, I'm personally enjoying writing it a lot.


	8. Poolside Chats

It had been a number of days, a week, maybe, since this ordeal all began. They were in in Russia now.

They had to spend a small, Hellish amount of time at the airport just to catch a plane to the cold nation, but they managed and now the small group of witches and a single wolf-man had made it far from the Middle East. It could be assumed that whoever the DWMA sent to investigate their latest activity had already lost whatever lead they had and the trail was cold and dead. Which was fine and dandy as far as they were concerned. The group was finally taking a small pause before moving onto their next target; God only knew what Medusa intended for Siren to destroy next.

In the hotel, Siren was pleased to have the entire, albeit small, pool to herself. Though that was thanks to the pool actually being closed at the time. She sat at the bottom, knees drawn close to her chest as she brooded. A scowl was painted on her face, an increasingly more common attribute to her the longer she went about with Medusa and her crew of idiots. God, she _hated_ them. She wanted nothing more than to be done with the four, but Siren knew she couldn't. It was foolish to go and try taking on the DWMA on her own, having some backup was for the best, even if they annoyed her so much.

A small batch of bubbles escaped into the chlorine filled pool as she opened her mouth, the chemicals burned at her skin, only for the water to soothe and heal her in an endless loop of pain and relief as she sulked on the pool's floor.

She missed Jacko. She wanted him back, desperately. The more time that passed, the more frantic she was becoming, it was like the glass-state her mind was in was fracturing, ready to break at any moment and send her into the bottomless depths of despair.

She could tell she was already inching closer and closer to falling back onto old, awful habits, the habits she dropped because they upset Jacko. She'd started drinking again, nowhere near the levels of alcoholism from a couple of years ago, and she almost went and took a pack of cigarettes. Of course, smoking and drinking would have been the lesser of the evils if she fell onto her past routines.

It still frustrated her, it scared her even. Siren knew she was falling apart, like a cracked dam ready to burst. She was afraid of the outcome when her dam broke. Water was a dangerous tool.

She was broken from her thoughts when a shadow fell over the water. A familiar shape. Annoyance ran its course through her. Maybe she could stay under the water and eventually the small witch would go away and leave her be. Maybe, no, it was too hopeful of thinking.

With one powerful kick at the cement bottom of the pool, she flew up the short distance to the surface of the water. Emerging from the water with about as much grace as a three legged deer trying to run, the large splash of water hitting Eruka's feet and she jumped backward as Siren turned in the water to fix her in a hard glare.

"What do you want?" She growled.

Eruka hesitated, "Sorry to intrude," she apologized, wringing her hands together in a show of nervousness, "I just wanted to talk to you. I thought you, I don't know, might want some company that doesn't involve snakes?"

Giving a sardonic smile at the notion that Siren would even _want_ the company of any of them, she sank a little deeper into the pool, "We're talking, now you can go," she deadpanned.

But, Eruka didn't go away, and that irritated Siren, but at the same time was a bit interesting, she seemed determined to get the woman talking. But, talking wasn't something Siren was all too keen on doing. Her only interest in the others was that they could get her back to Jacko, and that was all they were good for. Not that they were even being any good for that in the first place.

"You and Jacko are pretty close," Eruka commented, as though reading her thoughts, hiding her arms behind her back, "It's kind of cute, in a way. You really care about the boy."

Siren glared at her, clearly unamused by her bringing up this topic, "You don't say?" she responded dryly. She and Jacko were close, she cared for the boy? That was about as obvious as saying a fire was hot.

Eruka appeared nervous, and rightfully so. She was facing Siren, who had been in a rather foul mood since the start of this little 'journey' of theirs, alone, in the middle of a God damn pool. All the cards were currently stacked against the skinny toad. One wrong move, one wrong word, and Siren wasn't even going to think twist about drowning her pretty little face.

The Water Witch wasn't one to hold back.

Then again, credit had to be given to Eruka. It was very brave of her to come down here all alone to face Siren while knowing full well that she was in an even more sour temper than usual. She was showing either bravery or foolishness. But, who knew, maybe the Frog Witch secretly had a pair after all.

"It's just… strange? I know I don't know you that well, but even I knew that you were practically the picture definition of a misanthrope," Eruka went one, taking a nervous step forward, "You hardly ever came to meetings, and that's saying something considering your current attendance record, but, suddenly one day you come in with a little boy and it's like you're a different person. You're less… angry at the world. Don't get me wrong, you were still bitter and easily aggravated, but, you were calmer? It's just… how did the boy manage to make you _nicer_?"

Siren waited until she knew that Eruka was done before swimming to the edge, hanging onto the cold tile and staring up at her fellow witch, "I'm sorry," she said in as monotonous tone as she could muster, which wasn't really all that hard at all, "But you've got to be at least a level four friend to unlock my tragic backstory. And right now, you're probably level negative four."

The witch blinked and then puffed out her cheeks in irritation, a look that Siren saw on Jacko so much that she couldn't help but soften her expression.

Why was Eruka even asking about her and Jacko? It wasn't any of her concern, the damn prying brat.

Though… Eruka hadn't been wrong in what she had said, she had been pretty damn on point actually. Siren couldn't deny that she basically was a misanthropic, angry loner. She hated everyone; Witches, Kishin Eggs, Humans, and everyone else who fell into sub-categories, she really did hold a grudge against the entire world. It was no wonder that to an outside viewer, her suddenly seeming 'softer' was such a surprise. Honestly, Siren hadn't even realized that her harsh attitude had eased up at all. Sure, she kept her irritation and quick temper in check when Jacko was around, she didn't want him try and copy her violent ways, but had it truly made that drastic of a change that others noticed?

It was funny, Jacko had unknowingly made her into a better person without either of them realizing it. The boy truly was something special.

She glanced up at the frog who was standing by the edge of the pool now. If she had to be truthful, Eruka was probably the most trustworthy one out of their ragtag group. She hated and feared Medusa and didn't want to be a part of it, but was being forced into it by the same means used on Jacko to initially force Siren to cooperate. She didn't want to make enemies with Siren, and she was usually generally well-mannered to Jacko and her. The only thing she ever did was cause Jacko to get those snakes. But that just looped back to Medusa being at fault. She couldn't place all the blame on the Frog Witch for what had happened, even if she wanted to, in the end, Medusa was the one at the heart of it all.

So… if she had to tell someone anything, it might as well be Eruka. She knew when not to run her mouth.

Siren pulled herself onto the ledge, water dripping off her and pooling around her wet form. Tentatively, Eruka sat down beside her with a decently sized distance between them as she gazed out into the murky pool water. Her body felt cold now that it was out of the water's embrace and she gave a shiver.

"Jacko saved my life, that's how we met," she said bluntly.

Eruka looked over at her, a look of confusion on her face, "He… saved your life?" she repeated, confused.

Her confused reaction was understandable, after all, with how young Jacko was right now, and how young he would had been when they met; how in the world could someone so small and young save the life of a full-fledged witch? It was like something right out of some novel. It was enough to get her to crack a self-deprecating smile, remembering the bitter moments of their meeting.

She shrugged, glancing at Eruka and then looking back at the water, "I used to go through therapy. The doctor was terrible; said I was 'broken' among other things. I was sick. Sick of this world, it's people, it's way of functioning." She thought back to all those therapy sessions she used to take, to all the moments that made her such a spiteful person, "People are awful, selfish beings, they just use you and toss you aside once they have no more use for you. Break you and hurt you, and I was sick of it. I didn't trust people, I still don't," she explained, kicking at the water. "I ran away. I wanted to disappear."

Memories of the river she had been floating down flashed through her mind, the thick forest, the smell of moss, the birds. The loneliness, she had been so alone, there was no one she could trust, everyone she'd put her faith in had betrayed her. A person naturally can't function properly when isolated from other people, but she couldn't bring herself to be around people who would just manipulate and toy with her, so she had to isolate herself. She'd been so tired of being alone, she didn't want to be alone. She had wanted it all to end, she was tired of the world and its people.

"Out of nowhere, I found Jacko, or rather he found me. He literally fell into my life," she gave a small, bitter laugh. "I don't know how, but, he made me smile for the first time in so long. He was the purest being I'd ever met, though at the time I thought he was the living definition of annoying, and he couldn't speak at all, couldn't even understand any language, I figured it was because he'd never been exposed to it. He still has trouble speaking, but he's made tremendous progress since day one. He followed me, even after I tried to make it a point that I didn't want him around. He just… kept following me."

It was annoying at first. Siren had been so irritated, she tried to keep away from Jacko, tried everything she could to get rid of him. Even hid in the water, but he swam in after her. She tossed him into rivers, but he'd come out barking and wanting to go again. So much determination, innocent, naïve determination. It was as though she was the first person he'd ever met, and he treated it all as some game.

Eventually… he grew on her.

"Things happened, he began living with me," she finished.

Eruka was silent for a moment, probably trying to digest what Siren had told her. It wasn't the most detailed of backstory revelations, and honestly, Siren still wasn't sure why she was bothering to tell the girl anyways. But, what was said was said, and there wasn't any way she could take it back.

Eventually, Eruka looked up at her, "So…" she began slowly, as though trying to think of the safest thing to ask, "What ever happened to the therapist you were seeing?"

Of all the things to ask. Siren laughed, snorting a little as she covered her mouth to try and stifle it. She hadn't been expecting that question, and she the fact that she laughed took even her by surprise. Taking a second to compose herself, she gave a wry little smile at Eruka.

"He was overcharging me for terrible service, so I used his own fishbowl to drown him."

Eruka made a small 'oh' sound, but she didn't seem entirely surprised. Looking back to the water, Siren watched as ripples formed over the surface, feeling the pull of the liquid call out to her. Thinking back to how she and Jacko had met, revisiting those memories… a new wave of determination coursed through her. She'd douse out the sun itself and find a way to drown the moon if it meant she was getting closer to rescuing Jacko.

"Just hang in there a little longer, Jacko, I'm coming for you," she whispered to the water before standing up.

Whatever water remained on her shot off and sprayed Eruka right in the face, startling the poor witch and earning a stifled laugh from Siren. She turned around and began walking away, "I'm going back to my room, you can stay and play in the water, or whatever." She trusted that she didn't need to tell Eruka not to run that mouth of hers and blab about what Siren had told her to Free or Medusa. Eruka was smart enough to know that Siren would be _pretty_ pissed if she did that.

The doors pushed open and she began trudging down the halls. Not anyone up and about at this hour, no one to question her outfit of choice. She felt a little bit… lighter. As though thinking back to the first few days of knowing Jacko had somehow helped lift her spirits. She felt more determined, and she felt thin rays of happiness in her heart as those memories looped around in her mind.

Jacko had always been such a cheerful young boy. He was resourceful too, had to be with how long he'd survived before Siren appeared in his life. Whatever the DWMA was putting him through, he'd stay strong and survive until Siren was able to come for him, that she had no doubts about.

A smile found its way to her face as she entered her dark hotel room. Turning on the lights to illuminate the small space, her smile quickly fell at the small figure on her bed.

"Medusa," she said curtly.

The witch gave her a smile, "Siren, so nice of you to finally appear," she greeted as she hopped off the bed, "We've got quite a lot of work to get done right now."

Siren didn't move and crossed her arms over her chest, "What kind of work is it now?" she asked.

Medusa gave a _happy_ hum, which sent waves of shivers down Sirens spine and alarm bells in her head. Grabbing onto Siren's colder hand, Medusa led her to the bed, "All our work since day one has finally gotten some attention, _you've_ gotten a fan club," she answered, forcing Siren to sit down. A fan club? What kind of pathetic dimwit would actually think to create a fan club for Siren, especially after all she's done? "And we're going to go say hello to some of them tomorrow, so I need you looking your best."

"Oh, my God, please don't tell me you're giving me a makeover, because I draw the line at having makeup applied to me," Siren drawled, her tone bland but her eyes sending a warning message. "Why exactly are you having me meet with crazies?"

The snake witch climbed up behind her and began messing with Sirens hair much to her displeasure, and she had half a mind to whip her with water right then and there, "Because," she tsked as she began unknotting the tangled, short blue mane, "It's important to make allies, and they would be useful in helping us in our goals."

More like _her_ goals.

Siren growled ripping herself away from Medusas grip and whirling around. Arms crossed and glare hardened, she could feel the water inside of Medusa, waiting and ready for Siren to manipulate and fuck her up from the inside, "Is it important to get Jacko back?" she questioned. Because that was all that mattered to her, she couldn't give a damn about whatever Medusa wanted.

But the witch kept a steady gaze with her, "They will be a tremendous help," she answered.

With that said, Siren frowned, thinking it over. Was it worth it to go to a big group, she didn't like people, she sure as hell didn't like this 'fan club' of hers. But… if it'd help to get Jacko then fine, she'd do it. "I'll go, but you aren't changing my appearance at all." She stated.

Medusa raised her hands and smiled, "Understood, no makeover for you."

The witch then made her leave, and Siren glared at her even after the door was shut. After a few moments, she let out a groan. Great, a fan club meeting, this had _better_ help her get Jacko quicker, and they better not be absolute nut jobs either, or she's leaving and Medusa could deal with them herself.

But, she had to admit, it kind of felt… nice… that people were _liking_ the things she was doing. People appreciated her waves of destruction. It was weird, but it was nice to feel appreciated by people other than Jacko.

* * *

 **Authors Note**

This chapter would have been up sooner if the site wasn't being a brat and giving out 503 errors every time I tried to get into my account. Anyways, I hope you guys liked it, next chapter out on Monday, and we're going deeper into some of the drama.


	9. Children of Water

Siren didn't want to go. The idea of meeting God only knew how many strangers to do God only knew what didn't appeal to her in the slightest. In her opinion, it was a hold up in getting closer to Jacko. Then again, everything had pretty much been a holdup, and her stress levels were going through the roof. She just wanted to take a breath of fresh air, collect her thoughts, try and figure out what she was going to do. How she was going to get Jacko.

In the end that 'breath of fresh air' led her to find shelter at a bar.

Tonight was one of those rare moments where Siren was dressed like a regular person. A double breasted cardigan coat, a pair of dress pants, Hell, she was even wearing shoes. Of course, it was more so because she had to rather than because she wanted to. Like any bar would let her in dressed as she usually did, and the ones that did would most likely have men gawking and harassing her. Not something she was really in the mood for.

She was at one corner of the bar, a bottle of Jever. Or more accurately; her third bottle of Jever. She could feel the edges of a buzz starting to kick in, but for the most part was relatively sober still. She hoped to change that before the night was done.

The bar wasn't too crowded, but there were enough people in it to be loud. A TV hung on one of the walls, some rerun of a football game she suspected had been played earlier that day. Not that Siren couldn't understand what was going on, she knew Russian. But the TV wasn't important enough to her to translate in her head, what was important to her were phrases like 'Get me another', and 'I'd like-' which would be accompanied by some beverage. Speaking of beverages, her bottle was magically empty.

Waving down the bartender, it wasn't long until another glass bottle was placed before her. She easily ripped the metal cap off and took a sip.

Why wasn't Medusa letting them just storm the DWMA and take Jacko back? She'd done it once before in her attempt to free the Kishin. Sure, that plan failed, but getting back Jacko should be tremendously easier than reviving some stupid God that no one even cared about anymore. They would have even more power on their side this time around, and doubtless that the school was still recovering from the last attack.

Why wasn't Medusa letting her go get Jacko?

She let out a low growl, grabbing her bottle and tilting her head back as the bitter liquid ran down her throat. If this kept up, if Medusa kept playing coy, keeping them doing such trivial tasks instead of going to the heart of the matter, Siren wasn't sure if she'd be able to play nice anymore. The only reason she'd really just gone along with it thus far and not lashed out was because of Rachel. She was a keiki, a child. If she hurt a child again, what kept her from hurting Jacko when they were reunited?

A hand landed on her shoulder, breaking Siren out of her thoughts. A tall man with slicked back hair and a muscle shirt was smiling down at her. " _What's a cutie like you sitting all alone?"_ his voice was rough as he spoke the Russian words.

Siren shot an icy glare at him, " _Maybe because I want to be alone?"_ she responded dryly.

Her attitude didn't seem to warn him off at all, and the man just gave a laugh at her response, as though she were telling a joke. He removed his hand and took a seat next to her, setting his bottle of beer on the table next to hers. He was all smiles, body turned to face her fully. " _You don't look like you're from around here, you visiting our humble town or just moved in?"_ he asked, as though he couldn't take the hint that Siren didn't want him here.

 _"Passing through, not that it's any business of yours."_

 _"Ah, I see. You staying here long?"_ he asked smiling as he took a sip of his own alcohol.

She contemplated how to answer, what kind of response would be best to get rid of this annoyance without causing too much of a scene. It was clear he was either too thick skulled to take the hint that she didn't want his companionship, or just refused to accept it. Maybe she should be blunt and tell him to fuck off.

The hand returned to her shoulder, and suddenly he was much closer, " _By the way, lovely, mind if I ask for your name?"_ he asked.

She just wanted to get drunk, and this man was disturbing that plan, pushing her already stressed out mind further along rocky roads. Time to just forcibly make this man go away.

His hand had gone tense on her person, shaking, trembling as it was pulled back. The expression on the man's face was that of clear surprise, but his mouth wouldn't work. Siren watched with a blank expression as he, awkwardly and wobbly got off the stool and stumbled away. A meat puppet, the water in his body, in his muscles, his blood and his skin acting as the strings as she forced him to walk away.

He probably would scream if he could, good thing Siren wasn't letting him.

Once he was out the door and out of her range of vision did she cut off the magic and put back up her soul protect. Better safe than sorry should there have been any meisters in the area. Though, running into one wasn't that bad of an idea. His scream was muffled through the thick walls and door, and she just drank the rest of her Jever as though nothing had happened.

No one seemed to notice that odd display, and she was glad for that. Fewer witnesses to start questioning and whispering. She could drink in peace and hopefully, be so smashed by the end of it that she won't have to be dragged off to a meeting.

She could see how the greater numbers would help her in getting Jacko, but it wasn't as though it was an absolute necessity. Was it? She had to admit that Medusa _did_ understand the DWMA far better than Siren did, which was why she trusted this kind of things to her, using trusted as loosely as she could. But, in the end, it still bothered the Water Witch.

Finishing off her bottle of Jever, she was about to order another when a large hand hit her in the back. Not hard enough to be an attack, it was like a friendly pat with a bit too much force that had her nearly fall out of her chair. Whirling around, she found her glare locked in the mismatched eyes of the wolfman.

"Free." She greeted curtly, turning around to try and get the attention of the bartender. He seemed to be ignoring her now. Great.

Free took a seat next to her at the barstool, "Medusa had me and Eruka out looking for you, since you up and vanished and we need to get to the meeting soon," he explained, she didn't ask to know why he was there, "I saw a guy run away screaming about witchcraft, figured it had to be you."

"He isn't wrong, it was witchcraft," was her dry remark.

He laughed at that, a loud, annoying laugh, giving her another hearty pat on the back. Siren wished that he'd stop acting like they were friends.

It was clear the bartender had no intention of giving her any more drinks, she didn't understand why. Did she do or say something to offend him? It didn't matter, no more drinks meant she was done with this place. Damn shame she hadn't even had enough to get a full on buzz, the mild fuzziness would wear off before she even reached the hotel. Mission a failure.

Siren stood up from her barstool, taking a deep breath and closing her eyes, "Let's get going, mutt," she muttered to Free as she walked away from the bar, the large immortal man trailing just a few steps behind her.

All around her was the sound of glass breaking, screams of alarm from the Russian drinkers. The vast amounts of alcohol mixing together with glass shards as they pooled around on the floor, not a bottle untouched.

* * *

After reaching the hotel, Medusa had passively-aggressive scolded Siren much to her irritation, then went right into a debriefing of these fools they'd be meeting with. Apparently, they were a fanatical group and calling themselves the 'Children of Water' in honor of all the floods and droughts that Siren had caused. From what Medusa could gather, they thought Siren was sent by God to punish the wicked with another global flood.

Apart from that, Siren wasn't told much else than that she was to take reigns of this group. Something she'd prefer not to. She didn't like large groups, and she certainly didn't like being involved with them, an executive position would be too much of a hassle. But, didn't seem like there was any way out of it, she might as well accept it.

The meeting place was well out of the town limits, and Medusa had seemed to know the way like the back of her hand. The air was a bitter cold, and Siren almost wished she was still wearing her outfit from earlier. Almost. The cloak she had been issued before heading out, while offered some protection, was far too thin to keep her warm.

During the trek, she amused herself by manipulating the snow; pushing it out of the way so she walked on dry land, having tendrils of the white substance hit and mess with Free and Eruka. She even made a copy of Frosty, then had him self-destruct.

After about an hour of walking, they were lead to the mouth of a cave. Two masked figures stood at the entrance. Guards perhaps. Siren didn't bother to pay attention as Medusa spoke to them, only kept walking when they were let in.

The entrance was narrow, cramped, but after only a short while it let up into a large cavern.

The lights were dim, but Siren could still make out the shapes of people. So much more than she could count, all meshed together, crowded closely as they packed into the underground space. The moon shined brightly from the hole above, illuminating the center, like a spotlight on a stage, calling for the star of the performance to come on forward and take a bow.

It seemed like Siren was that star.

There were barrels surrounding the slightly elevated center, and Siren could sense the water inside of them. Placed all around like a wall, a perfect weapon for Siren if things got nasty. It seemed these rabid supporters knew what she would want in the dry caves. It sent a strange, unfamiliar feeling running up her spine much like a chill.

Everyone had a mask on, to keep their anonymity she supposed. From what Siren could tell, they all seemed to be various kinds of full face scuba masks with tinted visors. Probably because of the whole water obsession they seemed to have developed, she once again supposed. It was kind of creepy, in a way. But, intriguing.

She took another look around, something felt off about this horde of people. Well, apart from their apparent worship of the destruction Siren had caused. She couldn't really put her finger on it at first, and studied the crowd as best she could.

Then, like a ton of bricks, it hit her and her eyes widened. Fear? Confusion? Perhaps surprise was the best way to put it.

"They're all humans," she whispered under her breath. Every single one of them was a human being. Not a witch, not even a Kishin Egg. Average, powerless humans. Nothing special about them, yet they were somehow drawn to what Siren had done, and like mindless drones held onto it as some kind of sign from a higher power. They were human beings, sending praises for a _witch_.

Now, if that wasn't strange.

Apparently, just standing near the back gawking at the group wasn't the right choice as she felt a sharp strike to her ribs when she showed no sign of moving. Rubbing at her ribs, she looked down in irritation and the twerp who's lead she had been following.

"Go on, they're all waiting for you," Medusa said, nudging Siren to move.

She shot her a glare but began walking. Pushing past supporters who had yet to realize who the group was through the cloaks that covered their forms. All these men and women, here for Siren, because of what Siren could do, because of what she would do. She was their 'Angel' sent by God to purge the world in a biblical flood. Heh, Siren would be the first person in line to say she was no angel. A demon was more accurate.

Stepping past the barrels, Siren stood under the moonlight and lowered her hood along with Medusa, Eruka, and Free. The crowd went wild when they got to see Siren's face, be in her presence.

She opened her mouth to speak, but, realized she didn't even know what to say.

It turns out she didn't need to. Before she could think of what to say, Medusa stepped in front of her. Arms stretched out to the crowd who had dulled their cries at the appearance of such a tiny witch, "Children of Water, you've gathered here because of a single cause! You've grown tired of Death and his school, have become disillusioned with their so called 'justice', have you not?" she asked, and cheers responded to her words. It was as though she had been preparing this speech beforehand. Hell, she probably already had it written before she even told Siren about any of this. "Do you hate Death and the dictatorship he's taken the world by?" she asked them.

A chorus of cries responded. The energy in the room was pulsating.

Just how much of this had Medusa planned ahead?

Siren frowned, fiddling with the edges of the cloak, glancing around at the crowd who seemed enthralled as Medusa continued to stroke the flames of their rage. Was she even needed here? Seemed like Medusa was already well in control here without their so-called 'Angel'. She felt more like she was just here for appearance rather than conversation, and that was fine by her. Not like she needed to do anything, so she just Tuning out Medusa in her speech before it even got anywhere.

Her mind went to Jacko. Was he warm enough? Had he been getting enough to eat where he was? He had hopefully not been eating anything high in grease or sugar, Siren knew his small body, his weak stomach couldn't handle it, he'd get sick in no time after eating something of that sort.

It was funny, in its own way, Siren's thoughts always found a way to circle back around that little boy.

She wanted him safe, she wanted him back home, where she could protect him. Protect him... she'd done such a piss poor job of it, Jacko was already captured, gone, in danger.

Her thoughts were broken when the so-called 'Children of Water' began cheering in more fury, had Medusa said something particularly touching? Oh, Medusa was backing away now, standing behind Siren. The crowd was moving too, pushing and dragging someone forward. The chant of 'Kill DWMA' was repeated in the air, over and over again, along with 'Kill the Meister'. So, they'd captured someone ahead of time, some kind of sacrifice? Must be her time to do something after all.

Muffled cries of anger were heard from the prisoner as a man was dragged up to the 'stage'. His mouth gagged, hands cuffed behind his back, and a strange metal collar wrapped around his neck. He glared up at the witch with pure disgust in his eyes.

He was one of Deaths little soldiers. He was a part of the DWMA.

He would know about Jacko. He _should_ know about Jacko.

Siren stared at him for what felt like forever before she walked forward and ripped the cloth from his mouth, giving him the freedom to speak. The man spat a bit, coughing, and hacking. Siren waited patiently, knelt before him, waiting for him to recover. Her expression unreadable as she brought forth a tendril of water from one of the barrels and offered it to him like water from a fountain. His mouth must have been dry after being gagged for who knew how long, and she needed him capable of speaking.

He didn't take the water but glared at her. His loss as she let the water fall to the ground.

"You're from the DWMA, are you not?" Siren asked slowly, like talking to a child who could barely comprehend her words.

His glare never wavered, "I'm one of their top meisters here in Russia," he answered in rough English.

She offered a small smile of satisfaction, "Good," that was the kind of answer she wanted to hear, "The DWMA, they brought in a child not too long ago. A little boy from Hawaii, correct? Tell me, what have they been doing to him?" she demanded.

The meister stared at her, and she wondered for a moment if he even knew what she was saying. Then his face twisted into disgust.

"What? You want to know so you can finish him off?" he asked, "The boy is safe and sound in Death City, where you'll never be able to touch him."

She made a choking sound. Finish him off? Why would she ever do that to Jacko?

Glaring hard now, she took hold of him by his hair, tugging hard, her other hand took a hold of him by his chin, "Why. Why did the Academy take him?" she demanded, slowly and softly. "What did Death, what did DWMA do to him?"

"What did _we_ do to him?" The meister responded with a harsh laugh, "More like what did you do to him. Sounds like you care about him, then why are you hanging with the ones who tried to kill him?"

Her grip tightened and nails dug into his cheeks, drawing blood, "What. Do you mean?

"Oh? You don't know?" The man sneered at her, "How do you think we knew Medusa was alive and kicking? It wasn't because the girl, Rachel, had gone missing. It was because the boy we rescued from your den. By the time the pair sent to hunt you down found him, he was being torn apart by the snakes inside of him. Would have died, too, if not for us."

Torn apart… by the snakes?

The snakes inside of him, they'd been acting up while she wasn't there for him, they'd been... they'd been hurting him.

Siren stood up and backed away, her expression unreadable beneath her blue locks of hair, "Thank you," she said to the mister, there was no inflection to her tone, it was the definition of monotonous, "That was all I needed to know. You can say goodbye now."

She didn't bother looking at Medusa, to see the expression to see the confirmation of what the meister had said. She didn't need to, why would he lie about something like that? It wasn't like he'd expect mercy if he made her think they saved Jacko. How would he had even known there were snakes inside of Jacko if not for that reason? All he did was reveal to her one aspect of this whole ordeal she'd not been aware of.

A sense of clarity fell over her mind. As though everything, from what had happened and what she had to do now were all clear. With one hand stretched out, she stared at the meister, her expression empty.

A course in biology could tell a person that the human body was roughly composed of sixty percent water. From things as simple as saliva, stomach acid, and blood, to parts such as muscles at seventy percent water, the skin at sixty-four percent, the brain and heart at seventy-three percent water and lung composition at eighty percent. Even a human's bones are watery at thirty-one percent. A human's core components included water, just as any organic being on this awful planet.

Siren could sense all of it, pulsating within him.

The meister stared at her, as though unsure of what she was doing. Then, without warning, his body violently began convulsing. Mouth open in a wordless scream, his eyes bulged as he writhed. Bulges began forming all over his skin, pressing again the thin layer of covering and seeping back into his body, again and again. With every small twitch of her hand, his body contorted in a new way, control over it long since wretched from him.

Like a grape, he burst.

It was messy, it was disgusting. Blood covered the floor, his entrails a pile of mush. Could one even recognize the meister from the pile of flesh and meat that remained? Unlikely.

If Siren was honest, it had been a long time since she'd used her magic to this degree. She stopped the barbaric use when she took in Jacko, not wanting to scar the boy, to traumatize him. Being able to use her magic at a higher caliber than her usual, much simpler acts, it was refreshing in a way.

The Children of Water erupted into cheers, as though they had just seen the ball drop on New Year's day. Pleased and awestruck by the display of merciless power and the death of someone as vile as a meister. Siren couldn't comprehend why a bunch of humans would hate the DWMA so much, but she wouldn't complain. Maybe she could find a use for them. It wasn't as though the meisters and weapons that served Death like mindless idiots would even suspect a human being of conspiring against them. They were invisible, the spies in plain sight.

Maybe, maybe having them at her beck and call wasn't that bad of an idea.

"Wonderful, is it not?" Medusa asked as the Children of Water cheered and let out a chorus of cries at the order. Pretending as though what the meister had said about her and her own actions had no consequence. Medusa smiled wickedly as she stared at the remains of the 'sacrifice' that had been brought up to Siren. "I'd say we're making great progress."

Siren didn't respond, her gaze fixed on the hundreds of bodies around her. She could feel their energy, their joy, and their bloodlust. Their devotion and obedience to her, _her_. These were people who wouldn't use her, these were people who were happily throwing themselves at her feet to be used however she wanted. It was something she was so unfamiliar with. This sense of control, this power.

It felt good.

Not a power-hungry type of good. A refreshing, awakening kind of good. Security. They wouldn't, they couldn't betray her. Even if they wanted to, they had seen the kind of power Siren possessed.

Taking a deep breath, Siren closed her eyes. Right, right, Medusa was there talking to her. Medusa, who still thought she was the one driving them all forward, who thought she was the one in control. Trying to use her to further her own goals, wanted to play Siren as though she was a toy. More importantly, she was someone who had hurt Jacko. Who. Hurt. Jacko.

Her snakes had been on the verge of killing him when the DWMA took Jacko from Siren. Medusa had intended to kill Jacko. Why had she wanted to kill him, what would it have achieved? The reasoning behind it didn't matter, it could had been to create world peace and save the entire universe and that wouldn't have been enough for that crime to be forgiven. Medusa had hurt Jacko. She had hurt Jacko. She had hurt Jacko. _She had hurt Jacko_.

Something nasty was stirring inside of Siren.

"You know," she began, her voice an eerily calm, like the calm before a storm, beckoning only the worst to follow. Tendrils of water from the barrels began to lift up in the air around her, the cheers had gone quiet as eyes watched them. "I haven't forgotten. What you did to Jacko, I haven't forgotten at all, and I sure haven't forgiven you for that either," she explained, opening her eyes just as the tendrils shot forward. Like a snake lunging for the kill, they coiled around Medusa, hoisting her in the air as though she were nothing more than a ragdoll.

Everything felt so clear to her right now as she turned to face the small witch. She didn't care if Medusa was using a child for a body now, why should she care? Medusa obviously didn't care if a child died, and there was only one person, one child, who Siren genuinely desired to see live. Sorry, Rachel, but sometimes you just got to deal with what you've been dealt, and your hand was Medusa.

The water was inching up, higher and higher as it enveloped Medusa's body. She could see the surprise on Medusa's face, the frustration when her own magic was being suppressed by the crushing pressure of the water. Her tiny bones were likely being crushed too if the pain flashing across her face was anything to go by.

She had hurt Jacko. She had hurt Jacko. She had hurt Jacko.

Like a mantra, those four words kept repeating in her mind. Medusa had hurt the only pure being on this disgusting excuse for a planet. That was something that Siren could never, _never_ forgive. Why had she been waiting so long to take action, why had she been letting Medusa go unpunished for her sin? No more. Siren had no more use of Medusa, and she had long since grown tired of her haughty attitude. She had been doing nothing but slowing down Siren's pursuit for Jacko.

She had to get Jacko back, more than anything, she needed to get him back, take him home. But, now there was more to it, she had to make the DWMA suffer too. Suffer for taking him away from her, suffer for making this world one where Jacko was in danger just for being a sorcerer.

Siren smiled.

It was a twisted, malicious smile full of promises of death.

"I think you've overstayed your welcome in the realm of the living," Siren sneered as the water covered Medusa's face. Bubbles formed as she gagged and squirmed, but Siren had no intention of letting her out this time. She had already spared her death once. Not again, never again.

She kept her there, suspended in the air by water as the only sound was the muffled screams and gags and Medusa choked. After what felt like forever, she stopped squirming, she stopped struggling, and instead fell limp in the watery grip.

Siren frowned, "How disappointing," she sighed, "I thought you'd last longer." Without much thought, she tossed the body aside and turned around. The cheers of the crowd rang up once more after witnessing another 'glorious' death at the hands of Siren. How pathetic, they were so easily amused by senseless violence. But, that could be useful.

Eruka and Free were standing frozen in place towards the rear of their so-called stage when Siren turned to face them. Eruka reeling back to hide behind the wolfman when the empty gaze fell on them.

"I'm going to give you two this chance now," she said calmly, "and don't take it lightly, I don't hand out offers like this often. But, you two were the more 'tolerable' members of this pity party. If you guys want to stick around, you're welcome to stay. If you guys want to go and get out of here, you're free to go. Just be warned you'll have a less likely chance of living if you leave since you won't be of any use to me." She said, telling it as it was. There was no reason to try and add honey to her words. The facts were simple; if they stayed she could find a way to make them useful, and she wasn't in the business of getting rid of things that were useful if they left, she had no reason to _not_ kill them on sight. Their fates were in their hands.

Eruka shivered as she looked at Free, clinging onto him like he was some kind of lifeboat. It might have been cute if it wasn't so damn pathetic. Her patience was dwindling the longer it took for them to decide, and if they took any longer, Siren just might have to kill them for wasting her time.

But, Eruka nodded her head weakly, "We'll… w-we'll stay," she answered, finding her voice. She must have had still been in shock of what Siren had done to Medusa. Must had been afraid of that being done to her. She should be afraid.

Turning to the crowds, Siren felt an energy coursing through her, a kind of feeling she'd never felt before as she stared at the self-proclaimed Children of Water. Her own personal army. It wasn't too bad to have a bunch of delusional humans to do her bidding. If they became useless and more of a hindrance, well she doubted they'd be too upset if she had the ocean swallow them all.

Here, she was in control, she was their queen, their mo'i, she liked that.

* * *

 **Authors Note:** Sorry this is late, was in the process of going home for Winter break. I hope you like this.

Edited as of December Thirteen, fixing up mild errors and altering things I did not like.


	10. Memories

Siren Kahale frowned as she laid down in the murky, filthy river water. Blue hair soaked and drifting all around as she stared up at the cloudless blue sky with the sun beating down on her. She was far from home, deep in some jungle oceans away from her home in Hawaii. Far away from any other human being, away from the people she'd grown to despise over her life.

Her life had been one thus far of pain, bitterness, and abandonment. Her earliest memory was being tossed aside by her own mother, a fellow witch, when Siren couldn't do anything else to please her. Constantly just trying to prove herself useful, make herself useful, and ultimately giving up. Her mother drowned during a shower. Siren had been seven.

She moved on after that incident. Tried to make herself a 'useful member of society'. Useful… useful, that word over and over again. If you weren't 'useful' then what good were you? If you were useless you were better off dead. But, Siren had been naïve, she had thought it was just the turtle themed witch who raised her that was like that. She made a 'friend', an enchanter who dabbled in infusing magic into weapons and armors. He was twenty, Siren was ten. He needed help, he needed a strong source of magic to fuse to his merchandise, and Siren blindly agreed to help him. She didn't want to lose her first friend, and the one who had been letting her stay in his home for free, it never occurred to her that he was just using her for the free magic source she provided for his business. His tools became stronger, sold even better, before long, he didn't need Siren anymore. She was nothing to him the moment he had what he wanted. He, too, drowned.

Her first time at a meeting among witches, a group had taken an interest in her, they were much older than Siren and gave her false smiles and platitudes. Siren, being eleven and desperate for something real, believed everything they said. She brought forth a flood, wiped out an entire village of warriors that had been causing the witches problems. But, once their problem was solved, Siren wasn't needed.

Over and over again, the same song and dance. Siren would naively trust someone and they'd throw her away when they didn't need her anymore. Eventually, she was forced to realize that was just how the world worked. Once a person had no need of you, you were tossed aside like garbage. It hurt, and Siren developed quite the anger towards it. A certified misanthrope one could say.

She stopped feeling around that time, too. Only kinds of emotions she felt nowadays were from the anger spectrum.

Why was she here, so far out in the wilderness away from any human being? The answer was simple; Siren wanted to disappear. She was tired, tired of this God awful world and it's disgusting people, it's double standards, it's self-centered nature. She was tired of it all. Siren didn't want to be in a world as ugly as this one.

She was tired of feeling only anger. Siren wanted to be able to feel joy, she wanted to be able to care about someone without the fear of being thrown aside when no one needed her anymore. She wanted to be happy, she wanted to be excited and enjoy life. But, there was no way she could do anything, not with the world such as this.

If she was all the way out here, no one could bother her as she wilted away like a dead rose. No one could stop her from disappearing. Not like anyone would actually care enough in the first place.

She sank deeper into the river water. Eyes closed as she let herself drift down the current. The river fell into a steep waterfall farther down, with countless jagged rocks at the base. Siren knew this, she'd seen it before. That was where she would disappear. She'd let herself drift in the river, in the one substance that protected and kept her safe, and let it carry her off to her demise.

Dying in water, what a wonderful way for her to go. She wouldn't want it any other way.

The current was still very gentle, not yet close enough to the waterfall to turn violent. It was relaxing and soothing in a way only Siren could understand.

Taking a slow, deep breath, Siren felt herself sink deeper still, body almost completely submerged at this point. Surrounded by water, by the element she controlled. How much longer until she reached the waterfall? It didn't matter, she'd be able to wait all day if she stayed in the water.

" _Aaahoooo! Aaaaaaaahoooooo!"_

She jolted, taken by surprise by the weird cry as she splashed in the water and forced herself into an upright position. Eyes blinking in surprise as she looked around for whatever had disturbed her and trying to figure out what kind of animal it had been. What a bizarre cry. She narrowed her eyes as she brought forth a tendril of water as she saw a bush begin quivering, ready to attack the beast that disturbed her peace.

From the bushes ran a rabbit, halting at the riverbank.

Siren frowned, lowering her watery weapon as she stared at the rabbit in equal confusion. Certainly, _that_ hadn't been what made the strange howl, it couldn't have been.

As though just on cue, a much larger being burst from the bushes. The rabbit turned, about to take off again, but the animal was too fast as it snatched the rabbit and pinned it down. Siren could hear something break, perhaps the rabbit's neck, but could not see as this new creature's body completely covered the small fur ball.

She watched in anticipation as the being tilted its head back.

" _Aaaaaaahoooooo! Aaah-aaah Aaaaahooooooo!"_ it howled into the sky, so loudly it was as though it wanted even the sun to hear it's cry.

Siren watched it curiously, and her brows knitted together as she took in its shape. Wait… that wasn't an animal. It stood up, having apparently noticed Siren who had once again brought up tendrils of water in preparations for a potential fight. She was right, it wasn't an animal, it was just a little kid.

A little boy, so small he must have been barely older than five or six, stood before her. He was completely naked, his skin tanned by all the time in the sun, caked from head to toe in mud and other nature gunk. His hair was shaggy, a tangled mess with leaves and twigs sticking out. It was filthy, as though it had never received a proper wash and reached about halfway down his back. It's color was very pale too, though she couldn't discern its exact color with how filthy it was.

He was incredibly small and skinny, too. She could almost make out his ribs even from where she was, and he held onto the rabbit with one bony hand. Most certainly underfed, when was the last time this kid had a full meal?

He stared at her with wide, green eyes. Head cocked to the side in confusion. He took a step towards the water, as though trying to figure if Siren was friendly or a predator.

"Look, brat, go away," Siren warned, but at her words, he blinked and made a small barking noise. Did he even understand a word she said? Trying to ignore him, Siren dropped back into the water, sinking deep down. Maybe if she pretended he wasn't there, he'd get bored and leave. So, she closed her eyes and tried to block him out as she began floating down the river once more.

It was just her luck, though, that when she tries to get away from people, a person happens to find her still.

She felt her tension ebbing away like the tide receding as she drifted down the river's current. That boy had probably already gotten bored, went off to do God knew what with that dead rabbit. He was gone and she had no reason to even bother with him.

A loud splash caught her attention and she opened her eyes to see the boy underwater, paddling towards her. His swimming was awkward and clearly unrefined, but he was well on his way of reaching Siren, and his face was covered in some goofy, stupid smile.

Irritation gnawed at her as she forced a powerful current at him, driving him farther away from herself. "Go. Away." She snapped, bubbles spewing from her mouth as she glared at the boy. Even had they not been underwater and her words incomprehensible, the boy probably would still not understand what she meant and why she was pushing him away. More importantly, why was this boy even showing such interest?

After a minute he had dived back up to surface, his lungs being the weak, pathetic things they were, could not breathe the air from the water like Siren could. She took this as her chance, dissolving into the water so that only her wrappings were what remained. She doubted the boy would be able to find her like this.

As she thought, when the child dived into the water again for Siren, as though the two were playing some stupid game, his face was that of confusion when all he could see were her soaked bandages submerged in the water. He could not see nor feel Siren all around him, waiting for him to go.

But, he didn't go. He paddled over to the bandages, slow and awkwardly, his swimming so horrendous that Siren would have cringed if she had the body to do so.

He took hold of one of the bandage wrappings, examining it in his hands under the water. It took all of the Witch's willpower not to snap and lash out at him for touching something that belonged to her. No, right now as far as he was concerned, Siren was gone. Her irritation grew when he swam back to surface with one of her wrappings. Great, just great.

Siren followed the river until she was a good way away from the boy and only then did she reform back into a solid shape, adjusting her bandages to make up for the missing one. Stupid, filthy little brat. Maybe if she was lucky, he'd get killed by one of the wild cats lurking in the jungle.

Climbing out of the river, she began padding along the forest floor. She had intended to disappear in peace, but she couldn't do that peacefully after getting riled up like that. She'd come back later; fat chance she'd run into that child a second time. She could finally have her light snuffed out in peace and quiet.

Bare feet pressed against the bumpy ground, and she didn't pay any head to the rocks and twigs she stepped on. They hurt her feet, sure, but she could deal with it. She'd go back to the small town by the jungle, rest for the night and return to the river first thing in the morning. That sounded like a good plan.

She was just glad she was rid of that boy.

"Arf!"

Siren nearly leaped right out of her skin upon hearing the _clearly human_ bark. She whirled around, glaring hard at the child who was crouched on the ground behind her. A big, stupid grin splayed across his face and the bandage hanging limply over his shoulders. How did he find her so quickly, let alone be able to catch up in such a short span of time?

The boy had some skills, it would seem. Didn't mean Siren was any less irritated at this child, she barely knew him and already hated him.

"What part of 'Go Away' can you not understand, you stupid child?" Siren snapped.

The boy faltered, more so from her tone than from her words, but only for a moment. Seconds later he was smiling again and walking closer to her. Before Siren could even move, he had pressed his head close to her and was… sniffing her? What in the world?

Siren resisted the urge to just kick him away. She had no interest in dealing with a dumbed down version of Mowgli or Tarzan. At least they wore clothes. Taking a deep breath, Siren turned around and began walking, trying her best to ignore the child who scampered on after her. Really, what was his deal? What was so great about Siren that he wanted to follow her around? He didn't even know her, she was just a stranger, was she the first human being he'd ever met?

The boy was yipping and yapping as they walked, as though he was speaking in some different, animalistic language. Siren didn't understand a word he said, was certain it was just baby babble and meaningless.

Maybe once they reached the town, she could pass him off to someone who might care. He was probably originally from the town, to begin with. Probably ran away, or maybe his parents knew he'd be such an annoying brat and just tossed him off to the jungle to die. She couldn't blame them if that were the case.

Siren almost didn't even notice when the child stopped his incessant yapping. It was more out of curiosity then any genuine concern when she stopped to see what had happened.

The Keiki was crouched low, shaking and clearly not from the cold. A few whimpers escaped him as his bright eyes focused deep into the tall trees. Siren cocked her head to the side, what the hell was the kid's problem this time? He looked scared. Oh, what was the big bad wolf lurking about? Pathetic.

"Stay there if you want," Siren muttered as she started forward once more, towards the area that the kid was staring at.

She barely got a few steps forward before a deafening roar hit the air and a rather _large_ beast lunged forward from the undergrowth. It would have pounced on Siren and pinned her to the ground had she did not stumble back, but it was still far too close for comfort.

"The Hell?" she hissed as she fell backward, her bare back being scratched up by the twigs and rocks. Lifting her head, she found herself face to face with a rather large tiger. The kind of tiger that looked like he could give Shere Khan a run for his money. Feral children and now a tiger, Siren had walked right into the Jungle Book, hadn't she?

The tiger roared at her, and Siren gritted her teeth, preparing to get rid of it here and now. So what if they were an endangered species, if it wanted to pick a fight, she'd tear it to pieces.

" _Aaahrooo!"_ the boy lunged forward, forcing himself between the tiger and Siren. Crouched down on his hands and feet, he bared his teeth, a snarl rumbling in his throat. Did he seriously think he'd be able to take on a tiger? It'd make a toothpick out of him. Stupid little brat, throwing himself between Siren and a tiger, did he have a death wish or something?

Maybe she'd sit back and watch the boy get mauled before dealing with the tiger herself. Might as well get some entertainment out of it.

The tiger growled, stepped forward and the boy faltered with a hesitant step backward. His own growls turning weak as whimpers broke through. As he backed up, he bumped into Siren who had pushed herself to a sitting position rather than lying on her back. A look back at her, and the boys quivering stopped.

Siren watched as he took in a big breath of air, the tiger drawing nearer. The boy, still on his hands and feet, tensed, looking as though he were cementing where he stood, holding his breath as he faced the tiger. The Water Witch had to applaud him on his bravery, as stupid and ridiculous as it may had been, he was still brave for his age.

Before the tiger could lunge at them again, the boy opened his mouth in response, a 'woosh' coming out in his large exhale.

Siren hadn't expected anything, not really, and perhaps she should have expected something. But, even if she had expected something to happen, it still wouldn't have been what had actually occurred. When the Keiki opened his mouth to exhale the air he built up, out came not air but smoke. A dark stream of smoke right into the tiger's face. It was enough to stun the tiger who scrambled backward, shaking his head to try and likely get the stinging sensation from his eyes.

The boy breathed in again, taking a step forward and another stream of smoke came out right at the tiger. Either through actual fear, or more likely the aggravation of having smoke spat on it, the tiger turned and fled, and the boy began a heavy coughing fit, small rings of smoke coming out with each cough as he forced out whatever of the substance that remained in his lungs.

Now, Siren wasn't an idiot. She recognized magic when she saw it, and to be frank, that boy had displayed magic. Now she wasn't sure how or why, as far as she had been aware, sorcerers needed books or something to use magic. Then again, she didn't actually know many sorcerers, to begin with, so maybe they could use magic just as Witches did and the books were just an added bonus.

Did it matter? No.

It made sense in a way now, though, why the boy was following Siren after seeing her. He probably sensed her magic, and just, clung to it. As infuriatingly annoying as it may had been. She doubted that he'd ever seen another witch or sorcerer before in his life with how he acted.

"I don't know about you," Siren muttered as she stood up to stand completely, brushing off dirt and twigs off her legs and back, "but I think I'm sick of the wildlife already. Farewell, goodbye, hope I never see you again." She said to the boy, bidding him her goodbyes and turning to walk away while he hacked up the last of the smoke in him.

She ignored the keening noise he made as he tried to follow after her. Quickening her pace as best she could back to the river. Once she hit the river she could just follow up the stream away from her original destination of the waterfall and it'd bring her back to the village. She could lose the kid and it'd allow her to avoid any more random encounters with carnivores.

Once at the river bank, she sprayed water at the boy, making him falter on the land as she herself dived into the water. The last thing Siren wanted was the kid to follow after her. But, of course, as was the apparent rule of the jungle, what Siren wanted didn't happen.

The boy sat up, shaking the water out of his hair and bounded over like some excited pup. Barking and yipping like crazy as he hopped around Siren. This was getting old very fast. God, what would it take to get rid of him? Interestingly enough, it's been a while since Siren had been _exasperated_ by someone or something, she had to give him props for making her feel something apart from pure irritation and anger.

Oh well, even if he tried to follow, once she was in the water, there was no way he'd be able to keep up with his pathetic swimming.

* * *

She had been completely annoyed by the boy, he was nothing more than a bother, a nuisance who just got in the way of her plans for that day. Who distracted her and made her forget for the briefest of moments why she was doing what she was doing. That kid had been the kind of person she hoped would fall over dead.

So, if that's how Siren felt, then why, when she returned to the jungle a few days later, was she intentionally seeking him out rather than making her way to the waterfall to finish what she had started?

Honestly, Siren wasn't sure herself. She'd just felt _compelled_ to find the boy again. Maybe it was because he was the first person to not want something from her. Everyone else was always in it for some personal gain, but she couldn't even think of something the boy would want that she could give. He likely wouldn't have been put off if she threw him in the river and tried to drown him, he treated all her attempts to get rid of him as some kind of game.

He was an odd one, that was certain.

She adjusted the bag she was carrying and stole inside were a few items she'd taken. There was a bit of an experiment she wanted to try with the boy. See just how feral he was, or if he even had any concept of social norms. It was nothing more than to sate the curiosity she'd developed over the child. Maybe if she got over that, then she'd be able to just get on with her life, or ending said life, and not be distracted anymore by such an infuriating child.

It was surprisingly harder to find him than she expected. Following the river, she was trying to find any sign of the boy, retracing the steps from the other day. But, no sign of the wild boy. Maybe he really did fall over and die, perhaps the tiger came back for vengeance.

Wishful thinking, she knew that.

All she knew was she was growing increasingly tired of looking around for someone not even worth the effort. Siren was getting ready to call it quits, toss the bag into the river and just move on. Out of sight, out of mind, after all.

She was going to do just that when the stench of blood hit her.

Blinking, Siren frowned and began following it. Most likely some carnivore found prey and was eating, but, hey, it was at least worth looking at. See what was going on and all of that.

Pushing through some branches, her face twisted in disgust at the sight that she was met. On one hand, she found the child she'd spent the entire day roaming the forest in search of. On the other hand, seeing someone digging into a freshly killed and very raw squirrel was sickening.

The boy was sitting down, dead squirrel in hands and his own face soaked in blood. Interestingly enough, Siren could see his nails had changed, they were longer and sharper, like claws. Perhaps his magic developing them as a survival mechanism, he would need them in the wild.

But, God, that was disgusting and very unhealthy. Her own stomach was churning from the sight.

He must have noticed her because the boy looked up and stared at her. At first, he cradled his kill close to his chest, teeth bared and face scrunched up into a snarl like any other animal ready to fight off any would-be meal stealers. But, he must have recognized Siren shortly after because his expression relaxed into excitement.

" _Aruf!_ " he barked, scurrying over to Siren while holding onto the squirrels remains with one hand. His head was cocked to the side as he looked at Siren and then held up the meat to her, as though offering to share his meal, " _Aaaruu!_ "

She fought back the desire to gag. No, she would not be eating any squirrel. Who knew how many parasites were inside of it, she wasn't taking the risk, not to mention how repulsive the mere idea was. "No, thank you," she said, cringing as she pushed away his hand.

The boy looked at her curiously then shrugged, biting into the squirrel again, using his claws to pull away from the fur. She could hear the bones crunching in his mouth and watched as he spat out some of them before swallowing. God, that was so disgusting.

"I see you're capable of hunting," she said, sitting down on a rotting log, bringing the bag up to her lap. She tried not to watch as the boy finished off the rest of the squirrel quickly, blood remaining in his mouth without a care in the world. She wanted so badly to reach over and wipe it all off, it was sickening to look at.

The boy barked again, sitting in a crouched like position next to her. Head tilted to the side, he looked at her bag and leaned forward sniffing at the air around it and Siren, and making noises of confusion.

"Yes, this is for you," Siren said, opening the bag and pulling out a pair of shorts. First thing was first, she was really tired of seeing a little boy naked. Tossing them at him, she shrugged and rummaged through the bag, not caring if he understood her or not, "Those are pants, you wear them," she explained calmly as she began pulling out other things from the bag. An apple, some spare bandages and antiseptic spray, some vitamins. Now she wished she had some medicine for whatever was likely wriggling about in his stomach.

Christ, it was like she'd adopted the boy or something. The thought had her make a face.

" _Aru_?"

Looking over at the boy, she blinked as he stared right back at her. The pair of shorts were drawn over his head like some weird hat. She couldn't help it, really, but Siren had brought a hand to her mouth and laughed at the sight. It was enough to make her freeze up when she heard herself chuckling.

When had been the last time she laughed? Years, far too many years.

It was… probably best not to think about it too much. "No, not like that," she corrected, pulling the shorts off him and pushing him up to stand, "They go on your lower half, like this," and with that, she helped the boy get the shorts on correctly. Pulling the drawstring and tying it up so that they wouldn't fall, Siren had expected them to be a bit big on him, what with how scrawny he was, but they were even bigger than she'd expected.

At least he was wearing pants now.

"So, Tarzan, have a name?" she asked, grabbing him by one of his arms. So many scratches and gashes, probably from trees and other savage activities. He squirmed a little in her grip and then struggled to be free when she sprayed on the antiseptic. It probably burned. Good. But, she didn't release his arm as she saw the white foam bubble up over all his red marks.

"Grah! Grah-ah!" the boy growled, trying to tug his arm free, baring his teeth and hissing in pain. Siren just rolled her eyes at his actions, bringing up some water from the stream and pouring it over his arm to rinse off the spray.

She doubted 'Grah' was his name. But, it was as much confirmation as any that he couldn't speak. Did he even understand her words? It didn't seem like it either.

Wrapping some bandages around his arm, she snatched up his other and did the same to it, repeating the process until he had ever deep cut bandaged and all his scratches sprayed. It was the first time she bothered paying any attention to his body, and she could now see all the ugly scars littering his body. Some old and some freshly healed. Marks that he'd survived possibly his entire life out here in the wilderness.

It was amazing that someone so young was able to live out here.

Once she was done, he scampered away from her, grabbing the apple and putting distance between them. Clearly now suspicious after having such a painful medical spray applied. He watched her warily as he nibbled on the apple.

Siren watched as he ate, eventually finishing off the apple and digging a hole into the ground. She stayed where she was, not sure what he was doing as he dragged over dry leaves and twigs into the hole until they made a pile. He seemed smart, a survivalist type of smart, he knew what to do to survive out here, but likely didn't know the first thing about how to survive as a human. When his pile was done, the boy began coughing as he crouched over it. Siren almost got up to see what was wrong but stopped when she saw flecks of red come out of his mouth into the pile.

Blood? No, blood didn't have a glow to them. He was coughing up embers. His magic was likely primarily fire then if he could summon embers and smoke, but it seemed he couldn't create fire just yet.

The boy tended to the embers and soon enough a fire had formed in the pit he made. Making a few barks of joy, the boy circled his fire and then laid down around it to warm up and relax after his meal. His breathing was even, and he snuggled into the ground. Was he ready to sleep? Well, the fire would likely ward off any predators.

What was he doing out here, anyways? There was no way he could had been living out here by choice, at least not from what Siren had seen. Had the boy been brought out here and tossed aside? Perhaps his parents didn't want him anymore and threw him away.

If that were the case, then maybe the two of them were more alike than Siren initially gave credit to.

The boy was already vastly different from anyone else that Siren had met. She chalked it up to him having been untouched by the toxic nature of humanity. He was genuine, there was no room for manipulation and trickery in the wild, and Siren couldn't see any hint of malice on him. He seemed to genuinely like Siren, perhaps from her also possessing magic and it being some innate instinctual need to be with someone like himself.

He managed to make her laugh.

Somehow, the boy was making her feel lighter inside. While she wouldn't go as far as to claim this child was making her feel happy, she could feel something apart from her usual sour attitude bubbling inside of her. Perhaps, with time he'd manage to bring back that feeling of happiness in her. She wanted to be able to feel that again.

Siren had wanted to disappear because she was tired of not being able to feel anything but anger. But, this child was making her feel something. Wasn't that all she ever wanted? If she kept the child around, would she be able to feel those emotions? The boy… she felt like he would be fine with it, it wasn't like he had any family out here, and surely even animalistic instinct would tell him that it would be safer and better for his survival if he came with her. There was safety and power in a pack, wasn't that true?

* * *

The pit that he had made was still there, even a couple of year later. The tree had completely rotted away to a point it was no longer capable of being sat on, maggots and the like squirming about on and inside of it.

Siren frowned as she stood in the small camp area, a bit of grass had begun to grow over it too. This was where she decided to take in Jacko. Of course, she hadn't given him a proper name until weeks later after seeing how enthralled he was by the Halloween Jack-o'-lanterns. Thus he became known as Jacko Lantern. She couldn't very well keep calling him 'boy' or Tarzan and Mowgli.

So, Jacko was at the DWMA. She wanted oh, so badly to just charge in. But, the fear of them killing him off the moment she set foot inside was what kept her from going straight to Death City. She prayed that the child didn't think that Siren had abandoned him.

He was the only one to make her smile, he made her feel happiness again. She had so truly enjoyed his company after he warmed up to her. She found herself caring for the boy so quickly. She was worried when he got terribly sick after coming to Hawaii, so sick she had to take him off to the hospital. His digestive system was a bit of a mess, filled with parasites from the raw meat he fed on, unable to properly digest sugars and grease in any quantity but small. He'd been on medication for almost a year to try and get rid of all the parasites inside of him.

The boys first words had been 'Siren', and she felt her chest burst with something warm when he said that. Looking so proud, like he'd just won the greatest thing when all he did was manage to say his first word. Siren felt so… happy.

He cared for her, he depended on her, he was the only one to genuinely care for Siren for who she was and not for what she could do for him. The first and only one to ever be that way.

She would do anything to keep him safe.

"Ma'am," her thoughts were broken when one of the 'Children of Water' fools came up to her, despite her telling them not to disturb her. So much for complete obedience.

"What is it?" she asked, voice cold and detached as she turned to fix him with a glare. His mask blocked out his expression, but she presumed it to be a nervous one.

The man hesitated, but then straightened up, "We've managed to get a large sum of military grade weapons for the members to use," he explained to her, "along with black market equipment that would work against weapon-meister pairings and make them unable to fight," he was holding a file of some kind, likely containing information on all that they had gotten their hands on.

Siren snatched it from him and began flipping through its contents. Large guns, bombs, mostly human weaponry that she had no need for personally, but these foot soldiers could make use out of. Her attention lingered on the page for Anti-Weapon black market items they'd gotten. Prototypes, mostly, but could interfere with the most basic of weapon and meister tactics.

"This is perfect," she said quietly as she read through the information given, "Good job, return to your commander and make sure that everyone is well stocked on all of these. You're going to need them when dealing with filth."

The man gave a shaky bow and scampered off.

Maybe they weren't as useless as she thought. They made devices that could stop a weapon from transforming if the file was to be trusted. That'd right off the bat take away most meisters ability to fight back, leaving them defenseless and easy kill.

It was perfect. She could get rid of them so much easier with this and an army backing her. She could spread the school thin, overwhelm them with numbers and heavy machinery, alongside her own much more overpowering magic. She could take the fight straight to Death City.

More importantly, with this, she'd get Jacko back from the DWMA. Jacko would be safe and sound. Jacko would be safe. Death would be dead along with his useless students. They could go back to how life used to be. No, she'd need to move them somewhere else. Somewhere new, someplace where the DWMA, should they survive, wouldn't be able to get their hands on him again. So that _no one_ could get their hands on him. Maybe they could build a home in the jungle here.

* * *

 **Authors Note:** Siren, I think your logic is starting to get a bit faulty there. You've got an army, just charge right in there, do you honestly think that Death would have a little boy killed?

Anyways, a bit of insight on how Jacko and Siren met. Yay. Still doing some edits here and there.

(This chapters ending was edited and changed on December 26, 2016)


	11. Brothers

It had been a while now that Jacko had been staying at the DWMA, and he did enjoy his time there, the people were fun and the food was good. It was easy to just fall into step with the others and have fun at this bizarre 'school'. Almost two weeks had passed since he first woke up. His 'surgery' had completely healed up, and Stein had said something about the quickness being due to his magic. Jacko didn't really care for how or why he got better, all that he cared about was that he was better. The grownups couldn't complain now when he got rough while playing.

Speaking of playing, as the days passed, it got easier and easier to play. Especially when he woke up to more and more toys in his room. He caught Spirit one night trying to sneak them in, but, he's not letting the man know that Jacko knew it was him bringing him the toys. Spirit seemed happy that Jacko didn't know, and the boy didn't want to upset him by letting him know that Jacko was aware of the truth.

Of the toys, he'd grown particularly attached to a stuffed monkey that was in the pile. Sure, Mr. Monkey couldn't replace General Bunny, but, when he got back home, maybe the two plushies could be friends?

Maka and Soul visited regularly, and they brought their own friends over now and then. Jacko liked playing with them all. Especially when he was playing with Kiddo. He didn't understand why, but if things weren't neat and tidy, Kid started acting funny, so sometimes Jacko made sure that something wasn't in its right place just so Kid would make a fuss.

Even more, Jacko was no longer living inside the infirmary place! The grownups decided that since he was all healed up, Jacko could have his own room now. Of course, when he heard he was getting his own room, he thought of someplace warm and comfy, like his bedroom back home. He was a little let down when he was brought to the cold, stone room underneath the building.

There was one window high up with bars, the lights were all dim and most places were dark, the bed wasn't the most comfortable, and what's worse? It was all bland in color! There was no color anywhere, everything was awful grays and blacks. It made him sad. Sure, Jacko liked the color scheme for his clothes, but it was sad for a bedroom. Jacko didn't think that Spirit and Maka were happy with where he was staying, but Marie had given him plenty of papers and crayons so he could add color to his new room.

Oh! Oh! Jacko had almost forgotten the best part! He had a _neighbor_! Not just any neighbor, no siree! He had one of the people Siren worked with living next to him, though they never really said what happened to Siren, and didn't talk much about anything that had happened, it was still nice that the two were so close by. Familiar faces were fun in this place! And they hadn't made Jacko promise not to talk about knowing them to others like Kim did.

Jacko was trying to be nice to Crona and Ragnarok, but he wasn't sure if they appreciated it. Ragnarok was sassy and mean whenever Jacko tried talking, and Crona… well, they weren't any different from usual.

Speaking of the two! Jacko grinned as he pushed himself up from the floor, all around him were scattered toys and crayons. He pulled out the page he'd just finished coloring from the book Marie gave him, smiling proudly at his work. His finest piece yet! Giving an excited bark, Jacko left his room and quickly ran down the hall to the next door over where the meister-weapon duo was staying. If their room was anything like his had been, then they deserved to have more color to it, and Jacko was here to deliver!

He gave the door a hard knock, the steal hurt his hand a little, but he shrugged it off. Waiting for a few seconds, he pressed his head against the cold door to try and listen for any sounds, but nothing. Pursing his lips, Jacko tried again, hitting the door harder until his knuckles were red and throbbing, but at least it was sure to have made enough of a ruckus that the two couldn't have slept through it.

"Cro? Cro-o!" Jacko tried when he still heard nothing, standing on his toes, trying to reach for the slot in the door that would let him look in, but he was much too short to even reach it. Not even with him jumping could he reach and grab onto the window slot on the door, and Jacko prided himself on being a _very good_ jumper. The boy pouted as he knocked again, "Cro! Raggy!" he hollered, still holding the page he colored for them.

Maybe they were at that 'class' thing that all the older kids went to. The boy could remember clearly the lecture he stayed in for after delivering to Soul his homework. Zombie man was talking, though Jacko couldn't understand a single thing the man was talking about. Something about souls. The boy had tuned out after a few minutes and had just taken to drawing in a spare notebook Maka loaned to him. He drew the zombie man, Sid, a picture of him talking in front of the class, he said he'd put it on his fridge. Jacko didn't even know a zombie would have a fridge. So maybe he did learn something from the class thingamajiggy.

If Crona did things like Maka and Soul, then they might be at class. Jacko wasn't sure how it worked yet other than that people sat down and listened to the adult talking. Was there some kind of set schedule for when people went to class, like how people had schedules for when they ate? Or was it just that a person went when they felt like it?

Ugh, thinking about it was making his head hurt.

Nonetheless, it was clear that Crona wasn't inside, and if they were then they just didn't want to talk. But, Jacko wasn't one to give up. Smiling wide, he took a spare crayon from his pocket, his 'emergency crayon' as one may call it, and quickly scribbled on the corner of the colored page. No words, no letters. Just a small paw print and a smiley face, that was Crona would know it was from Jacko! His signature, that's what grownups did to make sure people knew who things were from, right? Made a signature? Well, this was going to be his!

Gazing proudly at his work, Jacko gave a nod to himself as he made sure everything was in place and slid the brightly yellow puppy picture under the door so that Crona could see when they got back. Good! Mission complete!

" _Aaaruuuf!_ " Jacko gave a rather hearty bark as he bounced on the balls of his feet, turning around and scampering back to his room. He had plenty more picture to color before the day was out, and plenty more drawings to make too! He was going to make a… a… what did Marie call it? A port-full? Yeah, that's it! Jacko was gonna make a port-full of all his drawings, that way he could show it off to Siren when she came to pick him up.

She was _really_ late on that, but, Jacko was doing his best not to let it bother him too much. He was having fun, and Siren would get him before too long.

Pushing his heavy door open and letting if fall shut, Jacko was smiling from ear to ear as he examined his room. Though still dark and dour, it was much brighter than when he'd been given the room the previous day. His toys were scattered about, and the walls were lined with brightly colored drawings, tape and covering every area.

He made a chirp as he bounced over to one array of drawings. There was lots of blue on them. Blue and white, 'cause that was their colors, his and Sirens. There were drawings of him and Siren at the beach, him and Siren at home. He even made drawings of when he and Siren met, wow his hair was so much longer. He could remember when she cut it, he'd never seen himself with his hair short before. He liked it. Of course, there were plenty of drawings of just Siren too. Clad in her mummy like wrappings, with a smile that could challenge the sun in brightness. Plenty of drawings of her at the ocean. There were just a lot of drawings of Siren in general.

But, why wouldn't there be? Of course Jacko was gonna draw his favorite person in the entire world! What kind of person wouldn't? She was the greatest person out there, his number one, his hero! No matter how much he was coming to adore the friends he'd made here, there was not a single person that could challenge Siren's position in his heart. She'd always be his favorite person in the whole wide world.

His smile grew in size as he whirled about, pouncing onto the stake of papers and boxes of crayons given to him as he dug through until he found the colors he wanted. Inspiration was driving his hands as he started on another wonderful piece of art. Himself and Siren at the ocean, on the beach with their home as the backdrop. The boy had to wonder if there was enough room on their fridge to handle all these drawings he was making. Siren would have to get a bigger fridge to showcase them all!

She was going to be so proud of his art skills when she saw them.

It was funny thinking back to how they met, and how much of chance it had been. Jacko probably would never had even run into her if he hadn't gone hunting that bunny. But, he had gone after the rabbit for his meal, chased it to the river and after killing it, he saw Siren. Standing in the river with water at her command. He'd been rightfully curious. After all, Jacko, at the time just a nameless wild boy, had never seen a person before. She had smelled familiar, he'd later realize it was the magic on her that he could sense, and that funny scent is what drew him to her. If he'd just let it be and not followed his instincts to follow her, he'd never have gotten a home and been so happy.

That wasn't to say that Jacko was _unhappy_ in the jungle. It was hard work to survive, and there were plenty days that the boy had gone without meals after unsuccessful hunts, plenty of animals that hunted him, and just generally dangerous. But, Jacko had enjoyed himself. Everything was so much simpler when living in the jungle, there was only one rule and it was to survive. Everyone was so much easier to understand, no one lied, no one deceived. Jacko had been rightfully terrified when Siren brought him to a town. So many faces. There were rules and social norms to abide by. It took Jacko forever to grow accustomed to wearing clothing, and even now he still found some articles to be constricting and uncomfortable. He'd pick going natural over the foreign threads covering him like a boa constrictor any day, but he couldn't because 'people' didn't go around naked.

People, that was what he was. Not an animal, not a beast. A person, that meant he was a higher being than the wildlife, more important. That was something the boy still had trouble understanding. What made a person more important than an animal? Siren tried explaining it to him before, but she gave up and told him that he should believe in what he wants to believe in and that if Jacko thought humans were not any more important than an animal than he should stay true to it. He still found some aspects of people horrifying, but Jacko was slowly moving to accept it more, and Siren was helping him. Though, he had to admit that her method of 'helping' him to adapt was kind of weird. She called people 'toxic', a lot, Jacko didn't understand what she meant by that. Siren did and said a lot of things that Jacko didn't quite understand.

The boy was just finishing up his latest drawing, coloring the last of Siren's hair with the blue wax crayon, the sun smiling down from above. He blew on the drawing as though it would make sure nothing smeared, and smiled with pride as his work, only to jump when a hard knock sounded on his door. Oh! Guests! People were here to visit!

* * *

Soul had his hand up, knuckles facing the door and prepared to knock again as he waited for the door to open. His free hand sunk into his pants pocket. It was about noon or rather closer to one to be more precise, but more importantly, it was lunch time, and he'd been sent down to the dungeons to fetch Jacko for that very reason.

It was a bit of a rule now among the group to be _extremely_ careful of what they fed Jacko. It became clear pretty quickly for them during the time that Jacko stayed with Maka while Stein and the others were on their mission that his stomach was a bit… different. To put it simply, a lot of what they fed him early on had him puking it all back up. Yeah, turned out that Marie kind of forgot to tell them that tidbit when she was talking to Maka. The snakes damaging his stomach and other innards probably didn't help much either.

A small breeze fluttered through the halls, cool enough to send goosebumps down Souls arms. Damn was it chilly down here. Not really an ideal place to be living.

While the scythe could understand the reasoning behind why the higher ups had Jacko staying in a dungeon, it still felt kind of cruel. Just like with Crona. The two weren't any harm to the school, and yet the pair were given the dreariest living space ever. He supposed that Jacko was a bit too young to rent an apartment, but surely one of the professors could have taken the boy in.

Then again… who knew what Stein might do if a sorcerer was living under the same roof as him, the kid didn't need to be traumatized, and Spirits womanizing ways were probably not the best influence for the kid to have if he stayed with the Death Scythe. For Kids own sanity, it was best that Jacko didn't stay in Gallows Manner, kids were messy, disorganized and wild, and Kid would have an aneurysm at the disorder the child would put in his home. Blackstar would probably mold the kid into a second Blackstar, and while Soul wanted to claim that his and Maka's apartment would be the 'safest' for the kid, they too had their own issue… in the form of a naked cat lady named Blair. It probably wasn't good for the little boy to see her in her nude glory as often as the scythe was subjected to.

Soul could hear the child bustling about inside, and a few seconds later the door was pulled open slowly. It probably wasn't easy for the little sorcerer to open and close such a heavy door, but hey, it provided a good work out. He was going to be ripped before they knew it just from coming in and out of his own room.

"Soul!" Jacko greeted, eyes practically sparkling when he saw the weapon. It was enough to send a warm sensation through the teen's chest.

Soul offered him a toothy smile, "Hey there, squirt," he returned, ruffling his hair. The boy would never get over how incredibly soft the kids hair was, it was like the fur of a kitten, "You ready to get some grub? The gang's heading out for lunch, and we figured we couldn't very well let you starve."

His hand was swatted away in a playful manner, and the smile never left the kids face, "Food? Food!" he nodded his head earnestly, "Chic-chic!" God, it was ridiculous how much that kid loved chicken.

"We'll see if the place has any chicken," Soul held out his hand for Jacko to take. While he trusted the boy not to run off and try to escape, it didn't mean he might not wander off and get lost. It was a big school, and sometimes the halls could be cramped. With as small as Jacko was, it would be easy to lose sight of him if they had to go through a pack of students.

Thankfully the boy wasn't the stuck up brat that would refuse hand holding. Quite the opposite in fact as he eagerly latched onto Souls much bigger hand, giving their linked limbs a swing.

As they walked through the cold halls of the dungeon like basement into the much more comfortably warmer air of the main halls, Soul kept casting looks at the child who had somehow wormed his way into his group of friends. The boy in question had begun a soft 'song' of sorts, if it could be called that, composed mostly of… less than human noises.

If Soul was to be truthful, there were plenty of things about the kid that were a bit of a mystery. Clearly, he had some connection to the witch that Stein, Marie and the other professors and veteran meister-weapon teams were desperately after. He _was_ found at her home, after all, and he practically worshiped the witch with how often he talked of her. But just what sort of connection he had with her, that was unknown. The leading theory was that he was some kid abducted and brainwashed, because with what they'd seen of this Siren chick, it was hard to think he'd genuinely like someone as destructive and awful.

But, really, all that they knew was that he'd been found on the brink of death thanks to Medusa's snakes having a party in his stomach.

The boy knew magic, obviously, but not nearly enough to pose a threat. His claws were the most dangerous, but easy to deal with, and the most they'd seen him do with his supposed fire magic was have a 'smoke fight' with Stein in which the two fought to see who could make better smoke designs. Stein put up a valiant fight, but Jacko had a bit more control over manipulating the shape of the smoke he spat out. What's more was his apparent animalistic nature. Hell, the kid barely spoke in any human tongues and communicated more in growls and howls.

Stein had been trying to find out who exactly the kid was during his free time, and his meister had been pestering the professor constantly to see if any new information had been found. But the boy wasn't on any records. No records of his birth. No legal ID, no fake ID for that matter. Nothing Stein did could trace the boy to anything. It was as though 'Jacko Lantern' did not exist. But, Soul knew he existed, the boy was standing right next to him, holding his hand in flesh and blood.

"Hey, Jacko," Soul said slowly, and the soft howl song came to an end as green eyes stared wide up at him, "How about we cut through the park to meet up with the others?" he offered.

The boy's face lit up like a million stars and his head nodded like a bobble head. He even gave a sharp, short howl to show how much he was into that idea. It was enough to get Soul to chuckle a little. Surely Maka wouldn't mind if they were a little late.

* * *

The park wasn't quite so busy today. There were a few other people out with it being such a nice day. Some going for a jog, walking their dogs, or out with their families. Soul decided to stop for a bit, having decided to kill some time while Jacko enjoyed himself with the surroundings. He had sent Maka a text warning her they might be late, only to be informed that lunch would be later than usual thanks to a mishap between Kid and Blackstar. Soul didn't want to know what happened and chose not to ask about it. He'd probably hear about it when they met up.

But, that meant that they were in no rush, it'd probably be an hour now until the others could make it, depending on how badly things were on their end. So, spending some time with the kid at the park wasn't the worst way to wait things out.

Jacko was pretty preoccupied with petting a large retriever. Crouched down, probably making small dog noises right back at the hound, wearing his usual giant smile. The dog's owner, a young woman, didn't seem to mind and was smiling back as she knelt beside her dog. Jacko had been like that the entire time at the park, dashing from one corner to the other, greeting people, petting dogs, chasing squirrels and climbing trees. It was an amusing sight to see.

"Is that your little brother?" An elderly woman had come to sit down beside the weapon, cane in hand and a smile on her withered, wrinkly face. Her gaze was directed at Jacko who had moved on from the dog to roll around on the grass, playing with the leaves, "He's quite adorable."

Little brother? Well, that was an idea, "Nah, just a friend, could say I'm his designated babysitter for the day," Soul answered. He'd never considered himself to be the elder brother before, what with being the youngest of his family, but, well he wouldn't be opposed to the idea of having Jacko as his kid brother.

"Ah," the woman mused, looking back at Jacko, "Well, it seems you've your hands full as a babysitter. Kids are quite energetic, how old is he?"

"About nine, give or take," nine was roughly the general consensus on how old Jacko might be, not that anyone knew for sure. "He's a wild one, but for the most part the kid is pretty well behaved. Only throws a tantrum when he's really upset about something."

As though sensing that they were talking about him, Jacko scampered back up to Soul, dropping a pile of flowers onto his lap, complete with the dirt still hanging from their roots. "Soul! For you!" the boy said, proud of his sudden gift for the weapon, and then cast the elderly woman a curious look, "Ha? Hi!" he smiled, waving his hand.

The woman returned his smile with a gentle one, "Hello, child," she said, "and what might your name be?"

The child just smiled brightly, "Jacko!" he chirped

"Jacko? Why that's just a perfect name for you," the elderly woman praised as she reached into her purse, digging through it before withdrawing her hand and holding her palm open with a few caramel candies in her palm, "How about a treat?"

The boy squeaked, but Soul snatched them before he could, offering as placating a smile as he could, "Maybe I should hold onto them so that he doesn't eat them all at once," and get sick. They hadn't tried feeding him caramel yet, and Soul didn't want to risk it. He had no idea how much it took before the kid threw it all up.

It didn't seem to bother the old lady any, though Jacko did pout and headbutt Souls leg a few times with whines to try and get the candy back.

After a few more words, the lady left to resume her own walk, and Soul figured it was about time for him and Jacko to start on their way again to the restaurant so that Maka didn't get on his case about being late.

"Wha' yous talking?" Jacko asked as he took hold of Souls hand, asking about what Soul and the woman had talked about before the boy had come over.

Soul shrugged as they passed a few squirrels, making sure his grip on Jacko was tight so that the kid didn't run off and make chase like he wanted to, "Not much, she thought you and I were brothers," he answered with a shrug. "Don't know how she could think that, the only similarity between us," the only similarity was that their hair was close in color, but apart from that, nothing. Even their skins were different colors; Souls being light while Jacko's was tanned. Maybe the woman had bad eyesight or assumed it was an adoption or marriage relation.

The kid made a face, shaking his head, "Jacko no brothers," he said firmly, but very slowly, clearly trying hard to make the right words, "Brothers… are… blood. Jacko no blood."

"Well, that ain't completely true," Soul corrected as they reached the end of the park and hit the sidewalk of a business section, "I mean, yeah, brothers are usually blood-related. But not always. Sometimes they're brought in because your parent married someone who already had a kid, or adopted someone. Just like parents, they aren't always by blood."

"Not by blood?" he repeated, thinking it over. Soul could see the gears in his head working, and wondered what was going on inside that brain of his, "Mama no blood… too?" he asked him, eyes wide and hopeful.

Did this kid really not understand that family was more than just the blood relations? "Yeah, you can have a mom who's not related by blood. Adoptions a thing, so are step-moms. Why, do you got a mom?"

His face brightened up immensely and Jacko gave a whoop, "Ye! Ye! Jacko a mama!" he agreed, though it sounded more like he had just learned it himself, nodding his head furiously.

Soul let go of his hand to stuff them in his pockets as Jacko bounded up a little bit in front of him, practically celebrating this 'discovery' he made. Guess the kid didn't realize there was a mother in his life. But, knowing that was good for Soul and the others too, it meant there was probably someone looking for the kid, they might be able to figure out who exactly 'Jacko Lantern' was. It was nice to see him so happy about it too.

"Maybe I can meet your mom someday," Soul commented, and Jacko just let out a stream of 'ye's' in agreement. The weapon had a gnawing feeling that he wasn't going to like who the kid just designated as a mother, but, it was best not to make assumptions.

Jacko was just the picture of happiness; spinning around on the sidewalk and sometimes running on all fours to circle around Soul. The boy was just so hyperactive right now. But, without warning the boy came to a sudden stop, though, right in front of Soul, his face was that of someone thinking long and hard about something. It felt as though the boy was staring straight into Souls, well, soul. After a few moments passed by, he came to a decision and pointed at him, "Soul! Brothers no blood! So! Soul Jacko's brother!" he declared loudly.

He couldn't help but just stare in silence at Jacko, kind of taken aback by such a declaration. If anything he'd never had thought to be made the sorcerer's brother, and have the sorcerer give him that title himself. But, after a few seconds he gave a smile and laugh, "So, I'm your big brother now?" Soul asked, and Jacko nodded, still pointing at him. Well, it wasn't like Soul _minded_ this at all, no, he actually could find himself liking this arrangement quite a bit, "Well, I've no complaints. I'd be happy to be your brother."

"Ye!" Jacko cheered throwing himself at Soul to hug his leg tightly, "Jacko an Soul! Brothers! _Aaaaruuuu_!" he finished off with a loud howl to the sun before scampering forward to a pedestrian on the sidewalk, tugging at her skirt and pointing at Soul. "We brothers! Soul Jacko's brother!" he announced to her, moving onto another passerby. It was like this was the news of the century and the kid needed to tell everyone that he and Soul were now brothers.

It was funny.

Watching as the kid ran towards a pair of bulky looking people to presumably tell them like he told the others, Soul took out his phone so he could let Maka know about this sudden adoption, and checking for any new texts. There was nothing from Maka, so it was likely that she was probably still with the others dealing with whatever fiasco Kid and Blackstar was in. Probably something to do with symmetry, Blackstar probably picking a fight with Kid or something. Soul might as well reserve the table for them since it seemed like he would be there first. Hopefully they didn't take too long.

"Man, kind of annoying when they do that, isn't it?" he asked, looking up at the laughing sun that hung above in the sky. Oh well, what could you do?

"Hey, Jacko. What kind of thing are you thinking of? I mean, apart from just 'chic-chic'?" Soul asked, looking back in front of him, only to stop moving altogether as his eyes widened at the sight before him, or rather the lack of such.

Where did Jacko go? Christ, he'd only looked away for a minute!

Maka was going to kill him if the kid up and vanished, Hell, _everyone_ was going to kill him if he didn't find Jacko and fast. The kid couldn't have gotten far, but where did he run off too? Did he go chase after someone to tell them about the 'big news'?

A loud noise, like trashcans tipping over, caught his attention and pulled it over to the alleyway that cut through on the left. Relief was quick to flow through him. Jacko probably saw a stray cat or something and tried to follow after. It sounded like something he'd do. Soul had just gotten worried over nothing, damn, not cool. Letting out a breath of air, he turned to walk towards the alley, "Hey, kid, you're not supposed to go wandering off like that," Soul said, shaking his head slightly, "At least give me a warning before you… Jacko?!"

There, on the alleyways ground was the kid, crumpled up and passed out. What the Hell, what happened here?

"Jacko!" Soul lunged forward towards the kid, "Jacko, are you ok-mmph!"

The weapon had only gotten a few steps in before something grabbed onto him from behind and a rag was thrust into his face, covering up both his mouth and nose. It was damp, covered in something. Chloroform? It must be, his mind was starting to grow fuzzy and fast. He struggled, tried to push off his attacker but only managed to fall to the ground as his legs gave out under him. Did chloroform work this fast or was it something else entirely?

Groaning, Soul tried to push himself up, tried to transform his arm to defend himself, but couldn't. His limbs were too heavy, to numb, his eyesight was growing dark. But, he could see his attacker now. There were two, maybe more? They were wearing masks. He could feel one of them grabbing onto Soul, and everything after faded into black.

* * *

 **Authors Note:** Hey, look, the chapter came a day early! As always, eager to know what you guys think. Pretty sure it's obvious who Jacko's just designated as his 'mom'. He always thought that to have family they had to share blood, good thing Soul just explained it to him, now he has a mom. Or always had a mom.

Something I wanted to talk about; So I've been contemplating making a (very short, maybe four chapters?) story of the early days of Siren and Jacko together. Would anyone be interested in that? Of course, if I do do that, then I'd probably cut this story down to updating once a week rather than twice a week until the other one is over. I've also the rough idea of a sequel for this that I'm interested in writing if people are interested in reading, but I'll probably give out more information on that when this fic is closer to finish.


	12. Feral

Jacko stirred awake, sore in roughly fifty different areas and his head fuzzier than a bunny's back. His memory of what had happened was… cloudy. Everything around him was bathed in darkness, nothing but pitch black. Were his eyes even open? His mind was still far too gone to be able to tell the difference. Though slowly sensation began to flow back into him. His face was pressed against something cold. Had he fallen asleep in his room while playing? God knew that the heat wasn't the best in the room.

But, that didn't sound right. Jacko could remember that he'd been outside of his room, he'd been outside with Soul. Heading out for lunch with Souls friends.

Soul had… Soul had explained that family wasn't blood, and had agreed to be his brother. Jacko had decided that Siren was his mother too, that was something he needed to tell her when she came for him. But what happened after that? He had been off telling people they passed that Soul was his brother because he was so happy about that. But after that, he had no memory of what happened.

His head hurt.

Squirming on the ground, Jacko let out a low, drowsy groan as he tried to push himself up, but, he couldn't move his arms. They were… tied? His mind was becoming sharper as whatever it was that happened wore off, and he was now acutely aware of the rope digging into his wrists, binding his arms behind his back. His fingers were tingly. His eyes weren't closed, he realized seconds later that the darkness was because there was a blindfold tied over his face. His heart started beating fast in his chest as he struggled against the rope, only for the rope to send spikes of pain up his arm as they threatened to cut off his circulation. What was happening? Why was he tied up? Was that a collar around his neck, it felt heavy, and it was far too tight, it made it hard to breath. As he squirmed, Jacko let out a long whine and whimper as he continued to struggle.

"Jacko? Jacko!" it was Soul. He was… next to him? If Jacko focused hard enough, he could feel the bigger body beside of him "Jacko, it's going to be okay, just, pay attention to my voice, it's going to be okay," Soul's voice was calm, but the kid could still make out the layer of fear in his tone, that even Soul didn't know what was going on either.

This wasn't fun. Jacko was scared, he wanted to go home, he wanted to be able to see, he wanted to be able to move his arms. He just wanted to know what was going on.

"Soul! Soul!" he whined desperately, struggling against his binds even more. They hurt his wrist, were forcing his fingers to go numb, and the collar around his neck was too tight. Struggling hurt, everything hurt. But, he kept struggling, trying to loosen the ropes on his wrists or figure out some way to get out of this.

His struggles fell to a stop and he swallowed hard when he heard loud footsteps despite the noise he himself was making. Growing closer and closer until they stopped right in front of him and Soul.

Laughter.

The people who came were laughing. Loud and crude.

Without warning, Jacko felt a hand on his head. Someone's fingers were tangling deep into his hair and pulling. Hard. It hurt as he felt his scalp begin to burn as his head was being forcefully lifted. Then the blindfold came off.

It took him a few seconds to adjust to being able to see and the dim lighting of the room. Where they were, he couldn't tell. Stone floors and walls, barrels and boxes around them. Some kind of storage unit, maybe? Soul was kneeling beside him, his blindfold hanging limply around his neck were a shiny metal collar was at.

He looked at the man who had him in a vice like grip by the hair. He was tall and wearing some kind of mask.

"Hope you two weren't lonely while we were gone. You brats woke up early," he said, letting go of Jacko and backing up to stand by another man who also wore a similar mask.

Soul let out a low growl, "Who are you?" he asked.

Raucous laughter was his response, "Do you really think we're just going to up and reveal who we are? Idiot," he mocked, "You really shouldn't concern yourselves with who we are. I'd be more worried about your own safety."

Safety? What did he mean by that? Jacko let out a soft whimper as he watched the second man put a briefcase on the floor and snap it open. There was a needle like the one Stein injected him with a few times for medicine, and some kind of purple liquid in a small glass container. Jacko didn't like the smell it emitted, his senses were warning him that this was bad. Really bad. Not that it hadn't been bad beforehand.

"I'd also not worry about people coming to find you," the man pulled something out of his pocket. Was that Souls phone? He was waving it in front of the weapons face, "Already told your friend not to wait up for you guys. Really; you should have had this thing password protected, makes it easy to fool others into thinking you two are all safe and sound when they think they're talking to you. If they think you're safe, they won's send anyone out to find you."

Soul muttered something rather crude, earning a blow to his head as the man curled his fist and slammed it hard against him.

"Now, now, no need to use such foul language, especially in front of your… what did you say you were? Brothers?" he was looking at Jacko now, but the boy didn't dare move, just letting out a soft whimper again. That seemed to be an okay answer as the man stood up, "also, I'd not bother trying to transform. You probably already have tried, but those collars you two are wearing? Specially made anti-weapon collars, they'll keep you two from accessing your weapon capabilities."

"It's amazing what you can find on the Black Market, isn't it?" the other mask wearing man said from where he was fiddling with the needles and purple liquid.

Soul growled, but Jacko was just confused. Weapons? But, he wasn't a weapon, he was a sorcerer! Why would he have to wear an 'anti-weapon' collar, then?

"I don't know what it is you want, or why you're doing this," Soul began, his voice forcibly steady but the anger in his tone still clear as day, "But, you're not getting away with this. Whatever you're doing, it's not going to work."

The main speaker laughed, "What brave words," he cooed as he walked to his companion who had just finished up and had the syringe full of the liquid, handing the tool to him, "But, let's see how brave those words are when you're dead."

"Why are you doing this? Is it because of the Kishin, because we stopped his revival? Because of Medusa?" Soul pressed, and Jacko wondered if he was just trying to buy some time. Surely someone must have known something was wrong and was looking for them, right?

The mask-wearing man stared at Soul for the longest few moments, before giving out a few chuckles, "Kishin? Medusa? Wrong on both accounts, I'm afraid," he said shaking his head and taking a grand bow, "Everything I'm doing here is for my one and only queen. Our magnificent goddess, our dearest angel. She wants the DWMA and all its students dead, and I am but a humble servant carrying out her desires."

He walked towards Soul, bits of the purple liquid rolling down from the long needle tip. "So, how about it, Big Boy. You want to go first?" his voice had gone low as he brought the needle to Souls bare neck. But, he didn't do anything else, a few seconds passed and he turned to Jacko, "Or, maybe the boy first."

Jackos eyes widened as the man approached him, and beside him Soul began struggling to try and drag himself over.

"Don't you dare!" Soul yelled, trying to get his hands free from the rope bindings, "If you're going to inject anyone, go with me first! Don't you dare touch him!"

His words fell on deaf ears as the man once again took hold of Jacko by the hair, forcing him to stand on his knees. The tip of the needle was directly against the veins in his neck, not yet piercing, but it's presence alone had his heart beating rapidly in his chest. He whimpered in fear, body trembling as he waited for the needle to pierce his skin and inject into him whatever toxin the needle carried.

Wait… this wasn't right.

Jacko was from the jungle, yet here he was, doing nothing but trembling as they threatened to kill him. Had he still been in the jungle, this would not have been something he'd cower from! Why was he just cowering in fear now? Had he already forgotten the laws of the jungle? Survival. At all costs. Push away your fear and inhibitions, do what you must survive. Just because he wasn't in the jungle didn't mean he had to stop abiding by their rules.

Survive.

Survive at all costs.

Jacko was going to survive.

Steeling his nerves, Jacko's whimpers turned to a low growl as he bared his teeth. He could feel the needle against his neck and decided to make a split second decision on what to do.

Lunging forward as best as he could, Jacko bit hard into the man's bare arm.

"What the- _shit ow! Get off you brat!_ " The man snarled, trying in vain to force Jacko to open his jaws, but he had no intention to do such a thing. He could feel the warm blood and taste it's coppery flavor on his tongue as he dug his teeth in. Muffled growls and snarls emitting from him. The needle clattered to the ground as the pain forced the man to open his hand.

Was that bone his teeth were scraping against? Had he hit any major arteries yet? He wasn't sure, his mind was foggy and he couldn't tell anything apart, the only thing driving him is his desire to live.

Jacko was forced to let go when a knee rammed into his chest. Knocking the air out of him as sharp pain coursed through his ribcage. The boy hit the ground with a whine and each breath that followed sent white hot pain coursing through him. He couldn't very well get up on his own with his arms tied up behind him, but he weakly lifted his head to see the damage he caused to the man he bit.

"Fuck, fuck, _fuck_!" the masked man hissed, cradling his arm and the other man was desperately looking for something to likely stop the bleeding. Jacko would have to say he did pretty good. The entire arm was dyed red in blood. He had almost succeeded in biting out an entire chunk of the man's arm, but the area still hung loosely to the rest of his arm. Jacko couldn't help but smile in satisfaction as he licked some of the blood off his own face,

It'd been a while since he had tasted blood.

"Fucking savage!" the masked man snarled as his arm was wrapped up in a bandage, said wrapping already soaking up the blood and turning red. "You really shouldn't have done that, brat!" he grabbed Jacko by the collar of his shirt and rammed his fist into the boy's face. He could hear something crunching and something warm running down his face. Blood?

Pain shot up through his face, and another punch came. Then another to his stomach that had him letting out gasps as the damage to his ribs were worsened. Maybe it hadn't been such a good idea to take that bite as the man continued blow after blow to the boy.

"Stop! Damn it, leave him alone!" Soul yelled helplessly to no avail.

His body felt like a truck had hit it, and the man had not stopped punch or kick. Countless bruises were sure to form in the coming hours. He could feel his entire body throbbing. Choked sobs as the man started to just kick him repeatedly. Pain was overwhelming his mind and senses as he coughed up a glob of blood. He just wanted it to stop. Please stop. Please!

 _Survive_.

As pain clouded over his mind, instincts were starting to take hold. Survive. He had to survive. The jungle was no place for the weak. The jungle was a place where only the strongest could survive, where only those who wanted to survive could. It had no room for pathetic little whelps. Had no place for 'please' and 'spare me'.

Survival. That was all that mattered. Survival. Survival. Survival. Jacko was a survivor. Jacko was… Jacko was of the jungle. This was nothing compared to it.

Gritting his teeth, Jacko prepared himself for the next kick. Feeling and hearing bones crack as the masked man's foot made contact with his ribs yet again. Air rushed out of his lungs. These collars, they were just for weapons, right? Designed to keep a weapon from transforming, right? But, Jacko wasn't a weapon. Jacko was a son of magic, he was a fire manipulator, a sorcerer. He was fire.

As the man's foot came in for another hard kick, Jacko gathered the air in his lungs, felt it rising in temperature until it burned, then let it all out. A stream of fire fell from his mouth and the man reeled back, howling in pain as he tried to stamp out the fires on his shoe and pants.

Jacko was fire. He was _fire_.

He felt his own body temperature rising as, despite the pain his body was in, he forced himself, awkwardly and painfully, to kneel. He forced his magic to his hands, and a fire wrapped around them, setting the ropes ablaze. The fires stayed as he fell to his hands and feet, crouching as the flames began to crawl up from his hands to his arms. Wisps of smoke coming out from his mouth as he breathed, heavily and slowly.

His mind was clouded over completely now. Taken by pure, animalistic instinct. The instinct to survive.

" _Raaaaaaaaahuuu!"_ he roared as the flames continued to climb his body, covering more and more bruised and bleeding flesh as he took a step towards the two masked me. " _Aaaaaruuuuu!"_ He'd all but threw out any attempt at human language as he lunged towards the first one, falling short but succeeding in making him stumble back in fright.

His fires not only climbed up his body but transferred onto everything he touched. With each step, fire lingered behind and began to expand.

His nails had changed yet again, like when he first woke up at the DWMA, they were turned to claws. Scrapping loudly against the hard stone floor as he took another step. His own clothes were burning away in the fires he'd created as they covered him completely, entrapping him in their protective warmth. His pain all but forgotten.

"The hell? You're not a weapon!" the man who'd he'd bitten yelled, a mix of fear and anger in his voice, "A sorcerer? The Hell?"

"Wait, remember what _she_ said?" the other man's voice had gone weak with fear. "Someone important, a sorcerer who used fire, oh shit. This is who she was talking about!" his voice was shaking with terror. Just who was this angel of theirs?

The man turned to his companion, "Seriously? Oh, oh God…" he turned back to the boy, completely backed into the wall. The feral child could hear him swallowing hard, hear his heart beat racing, "J-Jacko? Jacko Lantern?" the man asked.

At hearing his own name, Jacko let out a low growl, teeth bared completely, " _Grrrraaargh!_ " he snarled. He didn't care about why this man knew his name, that wasn't important. What was important was survival. Kill anyone who hurts you. Kill or be killed. They attacked and now they had to die.

He sprung at him, fire and claws digging into the man's flesh as Jacko knocked him to the ground. He didn't stop there, with snarls and roars, Jacko dug into him. Teeth and claws tearing apart flesh and meat like any other rabbit or squirrel he'd hunted before. Blood dripped down his chin as he tore the burning flesh apart.

This was not a man, this was prey. He was a predator, a hunter. Food to satisfy the hunger, blood to sate the thirst. Prey was prey, no matter what they were born as.

Before long the man stopped squirming and screaming, and though Jacko's entire face and body were covered by flames, blood still dripped past the fire from his maw, splattering into the ground and bloody paw prints were left behind each step he took towards the second man.

By now his fires had moved on to a good chunk of their prison, and flames danced all around them. Smoke filling the air, but Jacko was unbothered by the heavy, suffocating substance. In fact, he rather enjoyed the smoke filling his lungs and burning at his eyes. This was safety, this was familiarity. This was _his_ domain.

He didn't get a chance to run as Jacko sprung at him, and like the first masked man, he tore him apart with teeth and claws, burning everything he touched as a puddle of blood formed under the second body.

When he had his fill of both prey, the fire boy crouched and stood on his hind legs, head raised to the ceiling, to the sky, as he let in a deep breath.

" _Aaaaaaaaahruuuuuuuuuh!"_ he howled, the wolf cry drawing out as long as his lungs could hold. A tail of fire swishing back and forth behind him. He did not care if no cries came back for him as it echoed in the room.

The entire room was hot, sweltering as the fires danced with him. His claws scrapped the hard ground, leaving deep groves as he sprung onto a wooden box that was already burning and weak. The smell of burning flesh filled the air, mixing in with the scent of smoke. Jacko could live here. It was burning, filled with flames, and he had enough meat to last for a while before he'd have to go out hunting again.

"J-Jacko?"

His head snapped to the side where a white haired teen stood. His wrists were red, burned, and the sorcerer could see the remains of a charred rope and some metal collar behind him. Red eyes glanced at the bloodied and burned carcasses, and the boy felt irritation prick at him. Those were _his_ kills, _his_! He better not be thinking of stealing them!

But, the teen made a face and tentatively approached the sorcerer who was still on his burning perch. "Jacko, it's okay, you can turn off the fire and come back now. We're all okay," the white haired boy tried to appease him.

What was he talking about? Turn off the fire? He would never do that! He was the fire, the fire was him, he wasn't turning off his fire!

Who was Jacko?

He growled lowly, warning the weapon to back off. That did enough to make him falter, but he started to slowly step towards the feral child again.

"Jacko, come on. We need to- to get out of here!" he broke a few coughs as he spoke, apparently, his lungs weren't as welcoming to the thick smoke as the sorcerers were. His red eyes were tearing up and turning bloodshot. When he made no move to move, the white haired teen reached for the boy, "Come on! We need to go, _now_!"

" _Aaaaarhhaaah!"_ The boy slashed at him with his paw, red splattered to the ground.

"Shit!" The boy yelled, stumbling back and holding his bleeding hand close to his chest, "Jacko? Jacko that wasn't cool! What's wrong?"

Stop saying Jacko! Jacko! Jacko! Jacko! What was a Jacko?

The feral boy snarled, lips curling back, though he would not see it through the mask of flames that covered his face. His tail flicking about in aggravation. Go away! He'd already attacked him, so why wasn't he fleeing? Just, go away and let him have his home in peace!

Well, if he wasn't going to leave, the feral one was going to make him regret it. Bunching up his muscles, he prepared to pounce. Surely having three carcasses wasn't overkill when it came to fresh kill. " _Aaaahrruuuu!"_ he cried out as he sprung. Fiery paws and claws outstretched, ready to sink into warm flesh.

They clanked uselessly against cold steel.

Eyes wide in surprise, he backed away, staring at the reflexive, sharp blade that had shielded his prey from the attack. An arm turned into a blade, red eyes alarmed that he'd even attack in the first place.

Useless, useless, useless!

He snarled, beginning to slowly circle his prey. This changed things up a bit, he'd need to attack from an angle that wouldn't allow the metal blade to protect the prey. A low growl formed as he dug his claws into the ground. The fire around them had become stronger, hotter, better. The room filled up with the dark smoke, and his prey was coughing badly. That'd make him weaker.

He was about to lunge again when loud sirens filled the air. Too loud, he winced and whined as he lowered his head and covered his ears. What were those devilish noises? What was going on?

Growling, he whirled around and saw flashing lights just outside the walls of his den. He didn't understand what they're meaning was, and what was going on. Growling in frustration, he turned back to his prey who was kneeling down now, coughing incessantly.

Good.

Slowly stalking towards the white haired teen, he let out a soft snarl. Easy prey. Raising a paw, the fire curled around his hand, claws sharp and still bloodied from the previous two. He'd take care of this one, then deal with the noise outside of his den.

A hand hit him in the center of his back with a heavy force.

" _Aaaru?"_ he forced out in surprise, about to turn his head and face the intruder.

His body spasmed as what felt like thousands of volts of electricity shot right into his soul. A high pitched whine as his head began to spin and his body go numb. His flame cloak was forcibly extinguished as he collapsed onto the ground, the world blacking out around him.

* * *

Soul watched as Jacko's body fell into a limp pile at his feet. He was still unnerved by the sudden savage nature of the boy, by the fact that the child had been ready to kill him. Slowly, he looked up at his savior, swallowing hard. His voice was raw and his eyes burned from the smoked.

"Professor?" he asked slowly as Stein adjusted his glasses. Beside him, Spirit took to his own human form as the scythe left the meisters hand. People rushed into the building, firemen putting out the flames that Jacko had caused, and a couple of paramedics rushed to where Soul was.

Stein looked around, "Soul, I want you to tell me everything that happened," he said as the paramedics began doing some quick checks on Jacko. Soul winced when he looked at the boy. Covered in bruises from the beating he got, his nose was bleeding really badly too, and his left eye was a bit swollen. Not only that, his clothes had all burned away, leaving him stark naked, and he was covered in blood. His face had the red substance smeared all over, dying his teeth red, and his nails were soaked with them.

Very little was his blood.

Red eyes looked over to the bodies and a wave of nausea washed over him. They were mutilated beyond recognition. Torn open and shredded. The stench overpowered by the smoke, thank god. But, it was like some rabid animal had gone to town on them.

The kid had gone completely savage. He forgot who Soul was. The weapon wondered if he'd even remembered he was human.

"I'll… I'll tell you, just, give me," Soul paused to cough, his lungs burned from inhaling so much smoke, "just give me some time to recover… get checked out by the doctors," all that fun stuff.

"Right, just, get better, okay?" Spirit said, moving aside as two gurneys were brought over. First, they put Jacko in and strapped him in tight, while Soul was a bit easier to get on there.

Honestly, though, Soul wasn't even sure how to explain what had happened, especially not Jacko's behavior. It was so sudden. Had it been his magic acting up, connected to his usual more puppy like behavior? He didn't know, and as the ambulance door shut and he was being driven off, he wondered if Jacko was going to be savage when he woke up, or back to his old self again.

* * *

 **Authors Note:** Sorry about not getting the Friday chapter in, hadn't had the time what with Christmas preparations and last minute stress-fests. I hope everyone had a good Christmas.

Jacko going a bit savage there. Like mother like son when it comes to ruthless kills I suppose. A couple of years in civilization isn't enough to kill off animal nature.

anyways, a quick update; I rewrote the ending of chapter 10 (Memories), because I didn't like the direction it was going into. Figured I'd let everyone know so you can go check it out if you're interested


	13. Sorry

In the infirmary room, Soul hadn't been much worse for wear. A few bruises here and there, his lungs weren't in too bad of shape. The worst he got was that he needed a couple of stitches where Jacko had clawed him. Apart from that, he was perfectly fine, though the doctors wanted to keep him a bit longer just in case there was any unseen damage to his lungs from the fire, but he'd be allowed to leave before the day was done.

It was more that could be said for the kid.

He glanced to the bed beside his. Jacko laid there sleeping soundly, several bandages wrapped around the worse of his bruises where the skin had been broken. He'd even been issued another gown after he'd burned away his clothing in that fiery covering he'd possessed. What was more, what had Soul feel pity in his chest, was the precaution they'd taken in case the boy had woken up feral.

He was handcuffed to his bed by both wrists.

The weapon had overheard the people saying that the metal was something with a high melting point. If the kid woke up in a frenzy and started his fires again, he'd burn down the room before he got even close to melting the handcuffs. By then, staff would be in to sedate him.

Soul still couldn't wrap his mind around what had happened, he'd never seen a person quite so savage. It had been like watching a rabid animal, not a little boy.

"Just what are you?" he whispered to the kid, as though he might hear and be able to give him an answer.

"Soul!"

Before the weapon could react, the door flung open and a sudden force hit him and knocked the air out of his lungs. Eyes wide, Soul gasped for breath as Blackstar straddled him from atop, hands gripping tightly to his shoulders as he was shaken like a ragdoll. The whole scene seemed very familiar to the last time he was stuck in this room.

"Soul! What happened, man? Are you okay? Don't you go dying on me!" Blackstar screamed loud enough to cause his ears to ring.

Trying to push the loud assassin off, Soul began coughing as his weight atop him made it hard for the weapon to breathe, "G-get off me, you dumb oaf!" he snapped, finally managing to knock the blue haired student off of himself and knock him to the floor, "and quiet down! You're going to wake the kid!"

Tsubaki was at her meister side quickly, helping the boy to stand and offering a placating smile, "Blackstar, come on, we don't know how badly they were hurt, you shouldn't go aggravating their injuries like that," she gently scolded.

"It's okay," Soul offered a weak smile, "I'm fine. Just got a bad cut on the hand, but I'll be out of here in a little bit. It's the kid I'm more worried about, got worse of it between us," He said, gesturing with his thumb to where Jacko rested.

Blackstar wandered over to the bed, examining the kid with a thoughtful look on his face. It was clear by his expression that he wasn't too pleased by the dark splotches that littered the tan skin, even from where Soul rested, he could see the teen's teeth grinding. No doubt he'd be off to get payback for what happened to Jacko had the two not already been dead.

"Soul! What happened!"

At his meisters voice, Soul snapped forward to the doorway where the blonde was storming through.

He gave a slightly bitter laugh, "Where do I even start?" he asked, shaking his head, "We got abducted on our way to the restaurant, some whack jobs. Got a bit of a beating, they got killed and now we're here," sure, it may have been the abridged version, but surely Maka didn't need to know the details. Soul didn't want her to know Jacko had gone savage, that the kid went and slaughtered their captors.

She might look at the kid differently if he did.

"They're lucky they're already dead!" Blackstar decided, moving away from where Jacko was sleeping, crossing his arms over his chest as he let out an infuriated huff, "Cause, if they weren't, they'd be wishing they were by the time I was done with them! No one goes and hurts my friends like that and gets away with it!"

"I'm sure they'd be quaking in their boots if they knew Blackstar was after them," Tsubaki said, boosting an ego that was already big enough.

It was easy as the group quickly fell into some easy banter thanks to Blackstars bragging. Maka arguing that she'd be the one who'd have given their captors a beating not Soul had the two survived, and the two meisters going back and forth from that point.

As Soul watched them bicker, forgetting about the present matter, he found himself relaxing and smiling. Sure, things hadn't been the best today, nor had they gone as he had wanted them too, but, his friends were here now and that was more than enough for him. Besides, he was going to be okay, and so was the kid.

A knock on the door caused the group to fall silent and their professor stood in the doorway, cigarette dangling from lips.

"It's almost as though you two _want_ to wake the boy up," Stein commented as he pushed into the crowded infirmary room, survey the scene before him as he withdrew his smoking stub from his mouth. "But, I'd like to speak to Soul in private, so if you three could kindly leave."

Maka frowned, moving to stand beside her weapon as she stared at the professor, "I'm sure I can be here too, whatever it is Soul has to talk to you about, as his meister, I should be here for it too," she insisted.

"I'd much more prefer you not to be here. I'm just going to ask Soul about what happened, he can tell you all of that on his own another time," Stein dismissed her response with the wave of a hand, "I'm sure he'd prefer not to be crowded while relaying what happened."

"But!" Maka began.

Soul reached out to give her a pat on the arm and a little grin, "Relax, it's cool," he assured her, trying to gently push her forward towards the door. "Look, just do as he says, I'll tell you what happened back home, okay?"

She glared down at him halfheartedly, body deflating as she let out a sigh of defeat, "Okay, fine. But you are going to tell me everything when you get home!" she told him

As the group was shepherd out, Stein took a seat beside Souls bed. Blowing out a small stream of smoke into the air as he looked at the wall, seemingly deep in that labyrinth of a mind he had. Soul remained silent himself, not wanting to disturb the professor, and not sure what to even say.

The silence was broken as the mad scientist looked at Soul, eyes piercing into his very soul. "Alright, Soul. I need you to tell me what happened in there, what was with Jacko?"

"Damn if I know," Soul said with a bitter laugh.

Stein just took another drag from his cigarette, "Just, start at the beginning, tell us everything that happened."

"We were going to get lunch, meeting up with the others. I looked away from Jacko and he was gone, found him knocked out in an alleyway and then I was knocked out too, I think it was some kind of drug, chloroform maybe," Soul explained, "when I came too, I was tied up and had this collar on me. Couldn't transform into my weapon form," all because of that stupid collar, some kind of anti-weapon tool that he hated already.

"What about the people who took you, did they say anything about who they were?" Stein asked.

He wasn't sure, he raked through his brain for any memory of what they may have said that could suggest as to who they were.

"They didn't name themselves, but, they said that they were attacking us because…" He paused to try and recall the words they used, making a face as he did so, "I asked them if it had to do with Medusa or the Kishin she failed to revive. They said it was because of someone else, that their 'queen' wanted the DWMA gone." Queen, goddess, angel, they'd used quite a few titles for this woman, but never a name.

There was something else they had said that had confused him. When Jacko had gone savage, unleashed his magic and attacked, there had been one thing in particular.

He looked over to where the boy still rested, unconscious and unaware of the world around him, and then he turned back to Stein, who was still waiting patiently for the weapon to continue talking.

"They knew Jacko," he said quickly, frowning at his own words, "Or… at least they knew _of_ him."

Stein's brows knitted together at this new piece of information, frowning too at what had been said, "Care to elaborate?" he pressed.

He tried to remember the exact things that they had said. Of course everything at the time had been going by so quickly, but he could recall very clearly that they had called Jacko out by name. "I don't think they knew it was him when we were tied up, but after Jacko went… after he used his magic, they recognized him. They called him out by full name, as though they weren't sure if it _was_ him or not," Soul paused as he remembered something else they had said, "One of them. They said that 'she' had told them about Jacko. I think they meant their leader, that whoever's leading them knows Jacko. As soon as they knew who he was, they both changed in demeanor. They were scared."

It was something that Soul couldn't understand. Jacko hadn't done anything but bite the one guy at that point in time. He'd used his magic, but he wasn't yet completely engulfed in his flames yet. But, the moment they had recognized Jacko as a wizard, they seemed terrified. Not of him but… almost as though they were scared of what they had _done_ to him.

Soul couldn't make heads or tails of it.

By the look on the professor's face, he doubted Stein could make sense of what it meant either. At least, not fully.

"I think it's too soon to say anything concrete about this situation," he finally said after what felt like an eon of silence. "With Jacko's past completely unknown to us, we don't know who he's connected to and how. But, it is safe to say that this group is in some form connected to this boy. We don't know if he's a target of theirs, or perhaps a lost ally. But the safest route I think would be to keep him monitored, ensure he doesn't go anywhere on his own."

Soul looked to where the boy laid, "Is he in danger?"

"It's too early to say for sure, for now, we should assume that he is," Stein answered, taking one last drag of his cigarette and getting up from his chair, "Thank you. I'll inform Lord Death of what you've told me, and I'll have a doctor come check you out, see if you can leave now." He hesitated at the doorway, sending one last glance at him, "If you think of anything you think is important, let me know."

"Understood," Soul answered with a nod, and with that, Stein shut the door leaving him alone in the room with a sleeping Jacko. He sighed, laying back on the bed, looking over to where the kid slept, "Just… what is going on?" he asked.

* * *

Once again, Jacko was left waking up slowly and groggily. His body felt like he'd gotten chewed up by a tiger, was spat out and then, for extra measure, tumbled down the roughest side of a cliff. Everything ached and throbbed as painfully as could be. Just breathing sent dull jolts of pain coursing through his chest, burning uncomfortably. His nose felt funny, it was actually hard to breathe through it, and he could barely open up his left eye. There was even the faint taste of blood in his mouth.

He could barely remember what had happened. He got blurry snippets. The sense of unbridled fury, flashes of red, the vague memory of tearing through flesh like the prey he used to hunt. He could remember fire, lots of fire. He'd been with Soul, hadn't he?

The boy let out a groan. He had the pieces, but his mind just couldn't put them together.

His head hurt like something terrible, and he raised his arm with the intention to rub at it, maybe try and massage the pain right out of his skull. But, his arm only got an inch or two off the bed before it could go no further. It was around then that Jacko became aware of the cool metal attached to both his wrists.

"Aaru?" he murmured as he weakly raised his head and looked about. He was in the infirmary again, just like the first time he woke up at the DWMA, in one of the beds. The other one was empty. Once again dressed in their itchy gowns; what'd happened to his outfit? Did they take it again? The only difference was that this time, Jacko found himself handcuffed to the bed.

"Aaah…? Aaah, S-Soh…" Jacko's mouth felt like it was stuffed full of cotton, it was difficult, far more so than usual, just to form words. He furrowed his brow, swallowed hard and tried again, "S-Souh… Soul? Soul!" having managed to say his brother's name, Jacko began calling it out as loud as his raw voice would let him, which wasn't too loud at all. When he heard footsteps outside the door, the boy quieted down. Maybe it was Soul, then the weapon could tell him what had happened.

The door opened slowly and he spotted a familiar pair. It wasn't his surrogate brother, but Spirit and Marie were just as good.

Having seen that he was awake, Marie dashed over and he found himself being dragged into a tight hug made uncomfortable by the bruises covering his flesh and his handcuffed wrists. But, he still appreciated the gesture and buried his face into her shirt, making a rumble noise in his chest that could be seen as something of a purr.

"Jacko! Thank God, you're okay," she whispered, threading fingers through his hair as she held him close, "We were worried, after all, that had happened."

That had happened? So she knew, that was good because Jacko hadn't a clue as to what happened while he was out with Soul. Weakly, the child pulled away from her hug, giving her a questioning look. "Wah… W-wha'… 'appan?" it was a struggle, his words slurred and broken, and he felt shame wash over him at having lost what progress he had made in learning to speak. But, it didn't matter as by the expression on Marie's face, she understood his question was.

She shot a look over to the Death Scythe, as though looking for permission to speak, and when Spirit nodded, she stepped back. Hands still on Jacko's shoulders as she knelt beside the bed, "Jacko… what do you remember?" she asked him. He made a face, struggling for any concrete memory, but shook his head. He only remembered brief glimpses that he couldn't even make sense of, and with that, Marie took a deep breath.

"Jacko, you and Soul got drugged and kidnapped on your way to lunch. The people who captured you two wanted to kill you both, they thought you were a weapon like Soul and had you both bound and given collars that suppressed a weapons ability," she spoke slowly, cautiously as though the wrong word might trigger something awful. Jacko could only listen in silence. Her words were filling in gaps of his memory, making the connections his mind couldn't. "By the time Stein and Spirit found you two, the place was on fire and your captors dead. They were…"

Marie hesitated, glancing at Spirit and at Jacko, seemingly at a loss for words and the boy could only watch in confusion. After a few beats, she seemed to gather her voice and looked away, "The two who captured you, they were dead. Soul says you had gone insane and tore them apart. You attacked him and, I'm sorry, but that's why we had to handcuff you, we didn't know if you'd still be vicious when you came to."

Spirit came forward, crouching down on the other side of the bed, looking at Jacko with an expression he couldn't make heads or tails out of.

"Jacko, we want to know what happened," he said gently. That would make the both of them, though, on wanting to know what had happened.

The child made a face as he thought over what they told him, trying to force the rest of his fractured memory into place. What they described sounded familiar… he'd done that before. Siren told him he had. But, he never could remember the exact actions he took during his more 'feral' moments.

But, he was starting to be able to remember what happened before losing himself to instinct. At least, it wasn't as foggy anymore.

"Jacko… wanted survive," he said slowly, his use of language also becoming stronger again. That's right, he was in danger, he wanted to live, to survive. He _had_ to survive. No matter what, he had to survive. "Jacko… scared… so scared…" he had been terrified for his life, he needed to survive and he had been so scared, so he bit one of them, he threw himself to his most basic instincts.

It wasn't as though that was the first time he did something like that. It was the main reason he'd survived to meet Siren. Falling back to his wilder, animal nature when things got dire, succumbing to pure instinct, it's what kept him alive. His magic was stronger when he did that, and the other animals would back off and run away when fire was involved. Fire was always involved.

Even after coming home with Siren, he still fell back to those instincts if he was scared and felt threatened enough. There had been plenty of moments like that early on. He'd almost been killed once by a pair after coming home, he'd let his instincts take hold and he survived. Even if he was too out of hand, Siren could always tame him, subdue him before he did anything wrong. Maybe his brother just hadn't had the skills Siren possessed to keep him under control.

Swallowing hard, the boy looked up at the both of them, worried about what was going to happen next, what they were going to do to him for what he did, "Is… Jacko… in trouble?" he asked softly.

The two adults exchanged glances before Marie threw herself into another hug for Jacko, holding him close as the weapon begun to un-cuff him from the bed, "Of course not. You defended yourself, you're not in trouble. It's okay," she assured him, words gentle, but firm in telling him he wasn't in trouble. "We're just glad you're okay."

Was it… really okay?

He'd hurt his brother; he had hurt Soul. That couldn't had been okay, but, they didn't seem like they were going to punish him at all either. It was confusing. Siren would ground him if he got out of hand, take away snack time, ban him from cartoons, sometimes send him to the corner for a while. But, they weren't doing anything.

Though, perhaps the pain his body was in from all the bruising he got was punishment enough.

As Marie let him go, Jacko looked at his lap and then, hesitantly up at them. He'd hurt his brother, he needed to do something about that. "Can Jacko… c-can I… go Soul?" he asked tentatively, hopefully, "Jacko… Jacko tell Soul… sorry."

"Well," Spirit said, rubbing the back of his head, "He should be home by now, and you're not in any critical condition so… I don't see why you can't go and visit him."

The smile that broke across Jacko's face at that was enormous and he quickly jumped from his bed, ignoring the scream his body gave out as his bruises and cuts were aggravated. "Thanky! Thanky!" he cheered, hugging Spirits leg in delight as the man made some awkward, sheepish responses.

* * *

It hadn't taken very long. Miss Mummy had checked Jacko out before he could leave the infirmary, and Marie and Spirit took him to his room so he could change. Sadly, his favored outfit was destroyed so he had to do with a pair of shorts and a plain T-Shirt. He wasn't quite sure how he'd explain to Siren when they got together again what happened to the outfit she got him.

Spirit carried Jacko most of the way to where Soul and Maka lived when his legs got too tired to carry him. The boy was quite happy to be riding on the man's shoulders, being high up above everyone else.

It was still hard to recognize the apartment the weapon-meister duo shared, it being such an unfamiliar place still to the boy. But, they made it and Spirit let Jacko onto the ground, knocking on the door as they waited for someone to answer.

It took a minute, but Maka opened the door. Her eyes landed on Spirit first and she made a face of disdain, one that eased up when she saw Marie and vanished completely when she looked down and saw Jacko.

"You're okay!" she exclaimed, dropping to kneel so she was level with the boy, "I'm glad you're okay. But, what are you doing out of bed? I'd have thought you'd be on bed rest for a bit longer," she cast the adults a curious look as she said that.

But, Marie smiled and nudged Jacko forward, "The little tyke had something important he had to do," she explained.

The boy glanced behind Maka but saw no sign of the one he was looking for, "Is… Jacko look… foh… f-for Soul," he stammered nervously. Worried now about the situation at hand. What if Soul was mad at him, what if his brother didn't want to talk to him at all after what Jacko had done?

Maka blinked and then broke out into a gentle smile, "You're looking for Soul? Well, come on in, he's just hiding out, stuffing his face," she said, moving over to the side so that the three could get into her apartment. As she closed the door behind them, she turned to the hall and took in a deep breath of air before yelling, "Soul! Come out! There are some people here to see you!"

Jacko winced at the volume, raising a hand to cover his ear a little, but perked up as he caught the sound of heavy footsteps.

Shuffling out of his room, Soul yawned as he rubbed the back of his head, "What gives, Maka? I was in the middle of some-," the boy paused when he took notice of the guests, more importantly when he saw Jacko standing nervously in front of the others. He grinned as he approached, "So, you got let out of the infirmary today too? How're you feeling?" he asked.

He didn't sound mad, and that was all that mattered. Before Soul could take another step, Jacko sprang forward. Small arms wrapped around Soul as best as he could, burying his face into the weapon as he almost knocked the teen to the floor. The sorcerer couldn't help the sniffles when he saw the heavily bandaged hand. That had been his doing, hadn't it?

"Jacko sorry!" he wailed as he held onto his brother. "Jacko… Jacko hurt Soul! Sorry! "

Soul stared at him, hands hovering over the much smaller frame before gently giving him a few light pats on the back, chuckling a little, "Hey, it's okay," he assured him, "I don't blame you for it. You weren't yourself at the time and I'm not even mad. Not the first time I got stitches from a friend," he joked.

Jacko just made a muffled response, lacking any real words as he whined, clinging to the weapon tightly. He was just numbly aware of the others talking to Maka in hushed voices and slipping out of the apartment. His mind was zeroed in on himself and Soul as he felt his guilt over getting the teen hurt overfill him.

But Soul did nothing but hold him back, repeating over and over that it was okay, rubbing his back in soothing motions until the sobbing calmed and the tears dried.

* * *

 **Authors Note:** Well, everyone is okay. I mean, everyone but the two dead people. But they were jerks so nobody cares. As brought up in the side story _Becoming Family_ , this story will be updating only on Mondays until the other finishes. I hope that's okay with everyone.

Thank you, everyone, who's been leaving reviews, really means a lot to know people enjoy this story.


	14. Girls Day Out

Today was already going quite differently than what Jacko had planned. He'd left his room to go find Maka and Soul in the classrooms, but apparently, they had left for a mission or something since Soul's injuries weren't anything bad. That wasn't too bad, he would have been happy to be with Blackstar and Tsubaki instead, but the two had gone off with the first pair on the same mission. Even Kid was gone and along with him the sisters.

It wasn't like he could pester the adults while they were teaching, he'd been scolded once for trying that. He didn't want to go find Spirit either, he heard that the Death Scythe hung around someone called Death and, well, Jacko was scared of the man he'd not met yet. Someone with that kind of name, it brought scary images to mind, didn't matter that he was related to Kid.

Of course, Jacko wasn't one to be dissuaded just because the usual group he played with was gone. Not at all! In fact, he managed pretty well. After trying, and failing, to get Crona to come out and play with him, the two hiding away from him in their room, as usual, he went to wander the school.

He didn't know when classes got over for everyone, but surely he could find someone to play with while the rest of his friends were gone.

Scampering through the shining halls and wandering through the schools' courtyard. The boy even busied some time by dashing up and down the stairs. Well, more like he tumbled down the stairs and then ran right back up them. With stairs _that_ long, someone had to have fun on them.

He was just climbing up them for a third time, starting to feel the burn of exhaustion from the act when he spotted a familiar pair. His face lit up like a Christmas tree and Jacko quickly dashed after the duo who were turning the corner to leave the school. Before they could get very far, however, he collided face-first into their legs almost sending the two girls toppling to the ground.

"What the- _you_?!" Kim yelled out, clearly startled as she struggled to regain her balance with a child clinging to her legs. "What are you doing here, we're not supposed to know each other!" she hissed quietly, looking around the courtyard for any who might have seen them.

Jacko gave her an apologetic look, detaching himself from her and hunching over beside her and her non-witch partner… Jackie, was it? "Sorry," he mumbled, looking up at them with a sheepish expression, "Jacko bored, an saw Kimi- saw Kim. Thought… Kim play?"

"I _can't_ play with you," Kim stressed, trying to back away, "if people see you and me hanging out together, they're going to start asking _why_ we know each other."

The boy pouted, looking downcast at her answer and scuffing his boot against the ground, "Okay…" he mumbled dejectedly. Kim didn't even hesitate to shoot him down.

Jackie watched the two of them before she moved to put a hand on her meisters shoulder, "Kim, it has been a few weeks. I don't think people are going to start pointing fingers and asking questions if his circle of friends grows a bit more," she pointed out, glancing down at the young boy, "He lives at the school. Would it really be that strange if we had met him in the halls and just sort of became friends?"

At her words, Jacko's face lit up and nodded his head quickly, "Ye! Ye! Jacko jus' met Kim! New friend! New friend!" he confirmed excitedly.

Kim looked at him and then at Jackie, her expression hesitant, reluctant, "Yeah, but, Jackie, this was going to be our day of relaxation together. A girl's day out, a _girl's_ day out."

As she said that, the child just blinked. Not really getting what the big deal about that was or how he'd be any problem for their intended day. What even was a 'girl's day out'? Siren never talked about it, and she was a girl. But, if it was a girl's day they wanted, Jacko wasn't going to get in the way of that.

"Jacko can be girl."

The two teens looked at him as though not quite sure they heard him right.

Staring up at them, Jacko gave a nod. More to himself than anything else as he cemented the idea in his head. "Ye. Jacko be girl. Today Jacko a girl! Then Jacko join Kim an' Jackie?" he asked the two of them.

Jackie looked over at Kim, not quite sure what to say before she turned back to the kid, "Um, Jacko? You do realize you're a boy, right? You can't just 'decide' to be a girl," she said slowly and carefully, as though she were trying to not crush a child's dream. "I appreciate your determination, but, it doesn't work like that."

But, the kid was having none of that and shook his head. "No! Jacko girl!" he argued and stamped his foot into the ground, puffing out his lower lip in a pout. He could be a good girl if that's what it took to play with them!

As Jackie continued to try and explain why Jacko couldn't just be a girl for the day, and Jacko argued that he could and would be one, Kim was trying her damned hardest not to laugh. It was just way to funny to the young witch who was watching the entire argument. Never would she think she'd see a boy demand to be a girl, nor her own weapon try to be the one to explain why that can't be.

"Jackie, let's just let him be a girl," she said, letting out a few soft laughs as the two turned to look at her, "I mean if he wants to be one so badly, why stop him?"

"Have a change of heart on letting him join?" Jackie asked her curiously.

The young witch shrugged, "Well, like you said, it won't cause too much suspicion at this point if we're all careful, besides," she grinned as she looked at the beaming little boy, "I kind of want to see just how far Jacko here is willing to go to be a girl. After all, if he's going to be one of us, he's got to look like one of us."

Jackos grin was so big and bright it could challenge the sun at that point. "Ye! Ye!" he cheered as he bounced where he stood, "Jacko a girl! Jacko play with Kim an' Jackie! Ye!"

The witch quickly snagged one of his hands, forcing him to hold still for a second, grinning ear from ear herself now. "Now, now, Jacko. You're not a girl just yet," she warned, a twinkle of mischief in her eyes, "Let's get you to our place and we can start you on your wonderful feminine journey."

The walk to their apartment wasn't that long, and after Kim unlocked the door and led Jacko into the rather simple room, he was forced onto his knees as Jackie walked away to another room while Kim began spreading out some magazines around them, all of which had women on the cover and words Jacko didn't understand.

"Aru?" he questioned, tilting his head.

Kim didn't respond, instead, she quickly left the room, only to return a moment later with a damp cloth and a towel. Before he could move, she began scrubbing his face with the warm cloth, wiping away oils and grime that had gotten on him since his last bath. "There," she muttered when she was done and his cheeks red from her force.

Jackie hadn't left them alone for long either. As soon as Kim had discarded the damp cloth onto the coffee table, the weapon returned with an arsenal of small colored bags in her arms with a strange mixture of smells. She deposited the bags beside them on the floor into a small mountain as she knelt down in front of where Jacko sat.

"Today, we're going to make you look beautiful," Jackie took some bobby pins from one of the bags and began clipping back his messy locks away from his heated forehead, "You'll be the loveliest boy this school has ever seen. Oh, excuse me, _girl,_ this school has ever seen."

"Beauful!" Jacko parroted back, grinning wide as he tried to hold still as she focused keeping his hair away from his face.

Kim grinned from beside him, giving the boy a light pat on the back, "Jackie here is an artist with makeup, could put Liz to shame. So believe us when she says you're going to look amazing when this is all done," she praised her friend, earning a light and embarrassed shush from the lantern.

It didn't matter to him if she was the best or worse when it came to makeup, Jacko was already enjoying this 'girls' day out' with Kim and Jackie. He was ready to be the best girl a boy could be!

He closed his eyes gently at their command, listening as Jackie squirted some primer into her hand and began to gently massage it into his face. He loved the way she was doing it. The child had seen on TV where people would just smack a dollop of it on and rub it in roughly. She didn't do that. She smoothed it. Nice and gentle over his cheeks, thumbs moving in easy, concentrated circles. Her fingers were cold compared to his high temperatures, they felt nice to his heated flesh as they gently moved on to his forehead.

"Looks like you're enjoying it," Kim said, it sounded like she was rummaging through one of the bags. Jacko responded with a light coo. He was enjoying this immensely.

Jackie gave him a light flick on the nose, enough force to draw his attention but not enough to disrupt the primer on it, "Jacko Lantern, you better be taking notes, you'll want to know how to do this yourself one day, right?"

She was joking, that much he could tell, and he gave Jackie a giggle and grin, "Ye! Notes!" the sorcerer confirmed. Maybe he would do just that, he wouldn't mind wearing makeup again in the future.

His entire body was melting as relaxation took hold. He slumped forward slightly, tilting his head up at the command of the weapons slender fingers, chin held high. He could feel her examining him though his eyes remained closed. Jackie did not even need to give the order for him to stay still.

Jacko could pinpoint the feel of concealer being placed over his faded bruises and shadowed eyes. Then wide ticklish sweeps like a feather drawn across skin as powder foundation was applied. It had a slight perfumed scent to it, the subtle hint of the ocean, he honestly loved it. The boy was sure he could live with only the fresh scent of the foundation she used.

"Kim, can you hand me that- yes, that," Jackie directed, and the kid could hear something pass between the two young women.

Before he could ask or dare to open his eyes to sneak a peek, the weapon began applying some kind of cream onto his eyelids. Soft bristles of some brush easing it into his skin. She moved on to his eyebrows, he could feel another brush of some kind running along the small hairs. It tickled, a little, and though he wanted to snicker and lean away from it, he held still and let her finish.

What she did next, he hadn't a clue what it might be called. But, Jacko could feel her calculated, quick and soft strokes over his eyelids. A soft brush stroke between his eyelids and brows, like a feather in an incessant attack. She repeated that over to the other eye. When he thought she was done with that, Jackie began again with his eyes with what the boy could only assume was another shade of whatever it was she did the last time.

When done, she pulled back to let Jacko blink and breathe, getting her next round of applications ready.

Kim glanced at Jacko, gave a short whistle and then looked at the next items on the list, "Kim, no offense, but don't fake lashes go against the 'natural' look we're going for?" she asked.

"Why, Kim, I don't think I asked for your opinion," Jackie responded with a tease and gentle smile, earning a bark of laughter from her meister as the witch leaned back, snickering at the response.

When Kim was done laughing, Jackie took hold of Jacko by the chin once more and quietly instructed him to close his eyes. He's not really sure what to expect this time, but obediently keeps his eyes closed as she works her magic. He could feel something different being applied to his eyelids, and then could feel something kind of heavy and thick. He's not even sure what to think when she began dabbing something coarse and flaky onto whatever it was she put on him. Kim was suppressing laughter again from where she sat, though.

Jackies finishing touches were gently brushing the excess off his face and let his hair down. The boy could hear Kim move behind him, something squirting into her hand before she dived them into his hair, tangling her fingers into his pale hair, moving them into a design of her choosing.

If he hadn't been before, Jacko was certainly turned into a warmish-puddle by now. Pleasant tingles ran up his spine from this makeover the two gave him, even if he hadn't gotten to see the final product yet. Between the gentle touches of Jackie, to the current hair treatment Kim was giving him with… whatever it was she was doing to his hair; it was a wonder why boys didn't do makeovers more often.

When the witch was finished, she moved to sit in front of him again on the floor.

"You can open your eyes now," Jackie said, and he did just that. Blinking them a few times against the harsh light, allowing himself to readjust to the brightness of the room. When he finished, he looked at the two and found two wide smiles and a mirror held up in front of him.

Well, Kim was right; it wasn't a 'natural' look. He wasn't really sure what half the things on his face were. He had blue, darker blue and a shade of gray-white cut between the brows and lids. He had black eyelashes, _sparkling_ eyelashes, she must had put glitter on them after applying. There was even a vibrant blue line of eyeliner over the wing. His hair was even styled, locks falling into a perfect mess, an orderly form of disorder.

"I think you look lovely," Jackie said as he stared at his reflection, gently swatting his hand away when he tried to reach up and touch his face, "be careful, you might rub it out if you touch it too much."

"Let the boy be," Kim said shaking her head, "I think he likes it."

Lowering the mirror, Jacko nodded, a smile as wide as could be was adorning his face, "Like! Jacko like!" he babbled, looking just awestruck at his appearance, it took all his willpower not to touch the canvas they turned his face into. "Is Jacko beauful?" he asked them, hopeful.

The girls exchanged looks, both smiling wide at that question.

"Of course," Jackie answered, moving to take one of his hands and beginning to apply nail polish to his fingers, "I said I was going to make you into the loveliest boy at the school, didn't I? I think I fulfilled my promise."

"You sure did, he's going to give all the girls in there a run for their money," Kim grinned as she patted Jacko on the back. "But! We're not done, he may have the face, but he's got to get some clothes that match."

"Clothes?" the boy cocked his head to the side, raising his other hand so Jackie could work on the nails for that one as he heated up the skin of the other to hasten the drying. She was quick as she painted, with a master's touch and his nails were covered in blue in seconds.

Doing the same with his other hand, he quickly caused the wet paint to dry as he pushed himself to stand up. The girls both shared mischievous smiles at the idea of dressing Jacko up. Not that the boy would really argue, he was having a blast with them so far.

"We've got to find you the right clothes to go with your makeup," Jackie explained as she took hold of one of Jacko's hands in her freshly cleansed of makeup ones. Kim took hold of his other, "Besides, no girls day is complete without a little bit of shopping, now is it?"

"Nope. And if you want to be a part of this event, you have to participate in all of it," Kim added.

Looking back and forth between the two, Jacko grinned widely, nodding his head as he gave a small bark, "Jacko shop!" he answered cheerfully, "Jacko part of girls day!" Seriously, why wouldn't he want to?

"Yes you are," Jackie smiled, "Now, let's get out there and have some fun!"

* * *

The streets were as busy as a city of average population would be on a weekday after school. Jackie and Kim waved to people they knew, Jacko waved to complete strangers and barked and passing squirrel. They got quite a few looks from people who couldn't quite understand why a little boy had makeup and painted nails. To avoid too many unnecessary looks and comments, and to save on time, the group took a shortcut to make it to the store, though Kim and Jackie were mindful to avoid any alley cutting just in case Jacko might react badly considering his _last_ time in an alley.

"So, what's first on the list?" Kim asked as she let go of Jacko's hand when they entered the mall.

"Well, we don't have anything we need right away," Jackie shrugged as she ran a hand through her dark hair, "I could use some new skirts since that last mission of ours stained my favorite one beyond saving, and I'm sure Jacko here could use some new outfits since his last one got completely burned up."

"Clothes," Kim repeated and looked around the store then down at Jacko, who was in some rather plain clothing compared to his usual gray Halloween-like outfit. "I'm sure we can find some cute clothes for you. Maybe something to replace that button up shirt and shorts you loved wearing?"

Jacko hummed as he stared at the many windows. He frowned as he looked at the mall around them. First time he was ever in one of these places was when Siren took him to get clothing, he got his signature outfit that day and his name after putting a pumpkin on his head. But there weren't any pumpkins around today. "Aru…" he mumbled as he looked at the glass windows of the stores they passed. "Ar…ah!" His attention completely caught, the child made a beeline to one of the windows.

"Jacko want! Please?" he asked as he stared up at the outfit. A gray top with a white collar and a sparkly black tutu had quickly won over his heart as he stared at the glittery, monochromic outfit. "Want that!" he told them as he bolted into the show to get a better look at the outfit, making Jackie and Kim follow after him.

It was so shiny. So, so shiny. Like it had been bathed in stardust. He wanted it so badly.

"I suppose it would look cute on you," Kim chuckled as she looked at the outfit. Sure it was meant for little girls, but, the kid clearly liked the shirt and skirt. She rummaged through the sizes until she found one that looked close to his own size, "what do you think, Jackie? Think he'd look dazzling in this?"

"It certainly is pretty," Jackie agreed, "it's also his colors. I think he could make it work."

"It's decided then," Kim said turning to Jacko and ruffling his hair a bit, not caring if it messed with the work she put into it, "we'll take it, so come on." With that, she draped the outfit over her arm and led the two to the front of the store where a woman probably a few years older than Kim and Jackie was working the register. "We'll take this please," she announced, placing it onto the counter.

Jacko leaned up on his toes to be able to look at the dress, grinning wide and eyes still sparkling from knowing it was going to be his, "Jackos! Jackos sparkles!" he chirped happily.

The salesclerk looked at the teens then wrinkled her nose slightly when she realized they intended to buy it for the sorcerer, "Don't tell me the dress is for him. Dontcha think a little boy wearing a girls dress is inappropriate? Not to mention weird?"

At being called weird and his outfit rejected, Jacko shrunk back a little, a weak whimper escaping him as his heart threatened to break.

A loud noise like a crack echoed through the store as Kim drove her fist into the counter. Money held in her tightly curled fist and a look befitting the Witch of the Girls Dormitory adorning her face. It was enough to make the cashier back up in fright.

"We'll take the dress," she said slowly, not leaving any room for argument, "And also. Don't tell us what's weird and normal when you clearly don't know it, to begin with."

The transaction proceeded without problems after that, and minutes later Jacko was bounding out of the store, clutching his new sparkly outfit tightly, completely enraptured and in love with his new clothing.

Jackie chuckled as Kim put the change back into her wallet.

"That was quite fierce of you," she commented to her meister in a teasing manner, "seeing you get so fierce when the rude woman wouldn't sell the dress. I'm amazed.

Cheeks turning pink, the witch quickly looked away as embarrassment flushed through her body, "Yeah, yeah. So I stood up for the kid, so what?" she asked, not daring to look in Jackies direction yet, "the woman had it coming to her too. The kid wanted the dress, wasn't her place to start calling him weird for doing something different."

Jackie laughed a little, covering her mouth with a hand and turning attention to the boy who had ran back over to them.

"Can Jacko wear?" he asked holding up his new sparkly outfit.

Looking at him and then looking around the mall, Kim nodded when she spotted the bathrooms nearby, "Yeah, let's get you changed in there," she said, leading the group over and glancing down at Jacko before looking up at her weapon, "You want to help him put it on? It's his first time in a dress and he might need help with the buttons on the back."

The weapon nodded and took the boy by the hand, leading him into the women's restroom as Kim leaned against the wall waiting for them.

Before long she could hear some commotion from inside and could only imagine what was going on. Barking and laughing from inside the women's restroom. As well as a few scolding's from Jackie when the boy probably did something he wasn't supposed to.

A few minutes later Jacko dashed out of the bathroom dressed in the gray shirt and black skirt, his smile was blinding as he gave a small spin. "Look at Jacko! Jacko pretty!" he chirped.

Laughing, Jackie followed behind him, his shirt and shorts draped over one arm, "You sure are," she agreed playfully.

Even Kim had a smile as she patted him on one of the puffy shoulders, "You put every girl in here to shame," she praised with a chuckle, amazed by how easy it was to just please this boy. A truly beautiful young girl he was today. "But, let's continue shopping, you're not the only one who needs clothes, squirt" she added.

The rest of the shopping trip was nothing short of fun. The two teens had a blast going through clothes, trying on different outfits and getting opinions from each other. Every time they asked Jacko how something looked on him, he'd always say they looked great. He was far too nice. They even took a short lunch break with a few shakes.

Jacko had been very careful not to get a drop onto his brand new clothes.

Before they knew it, it was time to head back.

As the trio walked down the halls of the school intent on getting Jacko back to his room in the dungeon, a few classmates shot the three of them odd looks. Clearly confused as to why Jacko was wearing a glittery skirt and makeup. No one voiced their questions or concerns, much to the pleasure of the rest of the group. Jacko even got a few compliments from some girls who asked who did his makeup. Which got Jackie flustered when he praised her as the artist behind it all.

They were passing by the classrooms on the way to the stairs to the lower levels when the boy in question faltered at one of the classrooms when he heard a pair of familiar voices talking inside of there. A grin split across his face as he scampered over, only to have his arm caught by Kim.

"Where you off to?" the witch asked him a playful smile on her face before she looked at the door and listened to the speaking, "Sounds like Spirit and Marie are having some kind of meeting. You trying to interrupt?"

"Jacko show 'em!" Jacko explained, bouncing on his feet and gesturing to himself. He wanted to show the two his new look and dress. They were going to love it! "Can Jacko?"

Kim kept a hold on him, seeming to think about it before she let go of his arm and smiled, patting him on the shoulder, "Go ahead. Show off, Marie's bound to be jealous when she sees how great you look," she joked.

Smiling wide, Jacko scampered to the door, raising himself on his toes to reach the knob and put his weight against it. He was about to open the door when he began registering the words the two weapons inside were saying, and it was enough to make him pause and just listen rather than barge inside.

The two weren't using hushed voices, likely because of the perceived privacy having a closed door gave them. He could hear Spirit, he sounded agitated.

"Steins in the library with research, trying to find anything and everything about this tool she's after, but we need to start mobilizing forces. We've been five steps behind her at every turn, we _need_ to start closing that distance, and fast!" The scythe was somewhere between talking and shouting. Jacko could hear him pacing inside the room, could hear something shuffling, paper?

What came next was Marie's much calmer, soothing voice, trying to calm the Death Scythes nerves, "And we will, Spirit. She can't keep up like this forever. We're going to find her and bring her in."

"Intel has that she got an _army_ now, Marie. Human beings following her. It's not like a Kishin Egg or Witch, we have no way of telling who's on her side and who isn't at this point," Spirit continued on, "Soul and Jacko got hurt because of these people, and because they're humans, students can't just kill them!"

A hand fell on Jacko's shoulder and he looked back. Kim's face had gone completely pale and she was trying to tug him away from the door.

"Jacko, maybe we should visit another time," there was a sense of urgency in her voice, not that Jacko could understand why.

He furrowed his brows at her expression and odd behavior and turned back to the door. Leave? Why? They were talking about someone, and whoever it was, was involved with the people who got him and Soul earlier. Why would he want to leave before knowing more? He pulled himself out of Kim's grip and leaned further against the door, holding onto the knob for support.

"Jacko stays," he whispered back.

"Jacko, we need to go, now!" Kim hissed. It was like she didn't want him knowing what they were talking about, but why would she not want him to know?

But the sorcerer had already begun tuning her out, trying hard to focus on the words of the Death Scythes inside as he pressed himself against the door to try and keep from being pulled away. They were talking and using words that he didn't understand now. Clearly, the two were on edge by whoever it was they were talking about.

Did this person do something bad to them?

"Look, Spirit, I know this has you on edge, it has all of us," Marie assured him, and the boy could hear her walking to him, "Steins working on every bit of research he can to find what it is Siren's going after. Once he finds out what it is she has her humans looking for, we'll know where to find her and we can catch and finally put an end to her."

"I know, I know," Spirit sighed, "I've just been stressed out. It's been months is all. It's been a long time since we've had any incident last as long. Once we can get rid of her, everything will be back to normal."

Siren? Did they just say, _Siren_?

He felt something strange in his chest, a tremble in his body. They were looking for Siren to… get rid of her? What did that entail?

His grip on the knob tightened and instinctively he turned his wrist. With him leaning his entire weight on the door, it caused it to open and him tumbling into the doorway with a surprised squeak. The two adults quickly turned to stare at the boy on the ground with wide eyes, having not expected an eavesdropper on their conversation.

Marie quickly moved over to try and help him up, but Jacko swatted her hand away as he pushed himself up onto his knees.

"Siren," he said slowly, looking up at them with hurt in his eyes, He spoke slowly, trying hard to make his sentence as comprehensible as possible, "Why… why do you… want… Siren?" he asked them.

Did they know about Siren this whole time, were they… _hunting_ her?

Was that why Siren hadn't come for him yet because the school was after her?

"Kid, Jacko, it's complicated," Spirit tried, approaching them cautiously, "It's a lot of grownup stuff. It's best if you just forget it."

Jacko looked behind him and saw a look of guilt on Kim's face. Had she known the whole time that the school was after Siren? When their eyes met, she quickly looked away from him, hands clenched at her sides.

Crouching low, Jacko backed away from them as they tried to draw near him. "No…" he said slowly. He didn't know what was going on, he didn't understand any of this. His head hurt, it made his head hurt, his heart hurt. Siren was in danger here; Siren _couldn't_ come for him when he was here.

He turned and ran.

* * *

 **Authors Note:** Well, Jacko, you most certainly are the most beautiful girl in school right now. But you should know there is no running in the halls. It's been three chapters of pure Jacko, will this fic ever return to Siren? Then again, if it goes back to Siren then we go back to Crumbling Mentality and Increasing Instability.

The makeup scene tbh was heavily inspired by another oneshot I've read a while back, same with the cashier scene.


	15. The Great Escape

Dashing down the cold stone floors, Jacko barreled into his room and slammed the door behind him, collapsing against it. His heart was racing and his head was a complete mess right now. Trying so hard to make sense of what he heard. Maybe, just, maybe they just wanted to get Siren for a party or something, to bring the two back together and that's why they're trying to find her.

Oh, who was he kidding.

They wanted to hurt Siren. Why? That was something the boy really wanted to know. Why would anyone want to hurt Siren? She was the nicest, kindest person he knew!

He couldn't make sense of it, no matter how hard he tried. It just didn't make any sense.

Angry tears pricked at his eyes and he furiously rubbed away at his face until his skin felt raw from his force. Drawing back his arm, he glared at the smear of colors and makeup that now stained the tanned flesh. He was upset, rightfully so. Angry and hurt swelled inside of him in a disgusting mix that left him feeling awful.

Jacko didn't understand what was going on anymore, wasn't sure if he even wanted to.

He pushed himself up from the floor and scampered over to the window. It was too high up for him to see or reach, but he could see the moon begin to rise as the day came to an end. As that stupid, stupid laughing sun started to set and the dumb moon started to rise.

A bitterness swirled inside of him.

Letting out a snarl, Jacko grabbed one of the toys his friends at the school got him and threw it at the wall as hard as he could. A loud crack resonated as the action figure's plastic was broken and it tumbled to the ground. Were they even really his friends or were they just keeping him around as bait for Siren?

 _Why_ did they want Siren?

That was the question he wanted to know the most. Siren did nothing wrong, nothing that could earn her whatever fate they wanted for her. Yet, though she'd done no wrong, they were hunting her down even now. Siren, his Siren was prey.

This wasn't right. This wasn't right at all.

His head felt like a mess and he brought up both hands to grab hold of himself. Nails digging into his scalp as he tugged and pulled at his hair, letting out angry hisses. He felt his blood boiling, his skin growing hotter, the beast of anger clawing at him from inside.

A clenched fist slammed into the wall as Jacko collapsed to his knees. His body shook as he let out an angry sob, curling in on himself as he drew his knees close and buried his face into the fabric of his skirt.

So this was what betrayal felt like. He didn't like it.

* * *

His room was a mess at this point. His toys had been thrown about and broken in his fury. Drawings he'd made of the people at the school were torn off the wall, crumpled up and discarded like trash, there were even burn marks on the stone and steel that kept him sealed away in this prison-like room. At one point he'd even broken the mirror over the sink in his room. It took a few hours to get the glass shards out of his hand.

Had he ever been this upset before? He couldn't recall.

If Siren was there, she'd scold him for his tantrum, say he was being out of hand and immature. But Siren wasn't here, Siren was the reason he was so upset and lashing out at his surroundings. Better the objects around him than the people around him.

It had been four days and Jacko hadn't left his room at all.

People would come down throughout the day, try to get him to talk, try to talk to him and make him come out. Hollow apologies, vague explanations. Whenever they tried to open his door he'd channel his magic to make the steel far too hot for them to dare touch.

They tried to bring him food, but he didn't even dare open his door even for that. He was hungry, sure, but Jacko had gone longer with no food before.

He didn't trust them anymore. They wanted to hurt the person most important to him, they wanted to hurt Siren, his savior, his hero, his everything. How could he trust anyone who wanted to hurt her?

There was a pile of blankets on the floor where he slept now, when he did sleep. Looking at himself through the broken mirror. His reflection was warped badly from the shattered glass, gaps from where shards fell away. He looked far more ragged than a child should.

His shadows under the eyes were even worse than usual, and his eyes themselves had become bloodshot and irritated. Letting out a groan, Jacko rested his head against the cold sink.

A knock on his door caught his attention.

Snapping his head in its direction, Jacko almost fell in his quick sprint to the door, throwing his entire, albeit practically nonexistent, weight against it to prevent whoever had come this time from opening the door. He gave a low warning growl to his visitor.

"Jacko? Jacko, it's me, Maka."

Her again. Jacko bared his teeth and snarled in response, not even bothering to give her words of reply as he pressed both his palms against the metal of the door, preparing to send in the heat if she wanted to come in.

No one touched the knob this time, but he could hear a gentle thud from the other end, he wasn't sure what she did. "Jacko, please just let us talk. We're all worried for you."

"Maka, this isn't going to work. If he hasn't let anyone in yet, he's not going to start letting us in now," that was Soul, Jacko could just envision the weapon standing behind Maka with his hands hidden deep into his jackets pockets, "Just give him some space, he'll talk to us when he's ready."

He heard footsteps right outside his door, Maka turning around, probably. "He's been in there for _days_ , Soul," she argued, voice raising in pitch as though she were worried. Jacko wasn't sure if he could trust that as genuine right now, "I understand that he's upset, but he can't stay locked in there. He needs to _eat_!"

"And he will, when he's ready. He's not going to starve himself," Souls voice was calm and leveled. So far his brother had been the only one _not_ trying to force Jacko out of his room. He could respect that.

He couldn't make out the rest of what they said, their voices had gone to soft, too much grumbling under their breaths. But Maka soon spoke up again to Jacko.

"Jacko, I'll be back. Just… please come out," she pleaded before walking away.

Then he was left alone again. Satisfied that the two were gone, Jacko turned around and slid onto the ground, his back against the cool metal of the door. He actually felt a little bad doing this to them, locking them out. But, couldn't they understand that Jacko couldn't trust them right now. Not when they wanted to hurt Siren and not give him any reasonable explanation as to why.

No, even if their explanation was reasonable, that wouldn't excuse the fact that they wanted to hurt Siren.

He growled, at himself, at the world, at this whole messed up situation. He didn't understand it. He just couldn't understand it.

Another knock on his door and he snapped his head over his shoulder, narrowing his eyes. His lips curled back as he let out a snarl. What was she doing back already, she'd _just_ left him alone! Go away!

"I-I told you, Ragnarok, he's not going to want to talk."

Hearing the trembling voice, Jacko paused, blinking in confusion as he slowly pushed himself to stand back up on his feet, leaning against the door with his ear pressed to the metal to try and hear them better.

"Well of course he won't talk! All he does is growl and howl!" snapped the rather high pitched voice, Ragnarok was… well his attitude was about the same as always. But it was still surprising to Jacko that they were coming to his room. Usually the two avoided him whenever the boy tried to make contact.

They were… they were Sirens friends. Or, at least they worked with her before the three were brought to this school. They weren't after her like the others.

Ragnarok was still yelling at Crona, some remarks and insults that Jacko didn't really understand as the boy opened the door to his room, startling the weapon and meister into a silence. Clearly they didn't expect him actually let them in since he ignored everyone else.

"Cro? Raggy?" Jacko's voice was softer than usual, still worn out from four days of crying and screaming.

"Looks like the brat finally opened his door, what a shocker!" Ragnarok snickered as Crona slowly stepped into the room. The door was pushed shut behind them and Jacko slid back down to sit on the floor. "Damn, you look like shit."

Face scrunching up at the language, Jacko stuck his tongue out at the weapon, "Raggy no bad words."

"I'll cuss if I want to!" A large tongue was stuck back at Jacko. Though it was meant to be snarky and the attitude was foul, Ragnarok still got a small grin to creep up on Jacko's face. "Word is that you finally caught wind that this schools hunting down the Water Bitch, surprised it took you so long to realize it, dumbass."

Glaring at Ragnarok for a second, Jacko looked away and curled up on himself, "Why?" he asked weakly, "Why Siren?"

With the weapon and meister exchanging looks, Crona hesitantly walked towards Jacko and slid down onto the ground beside him, drawing their knees up to their chest in a position much like how Jacko was sitting. "This school… they hunt down b-bad people," Crona began slowly, uncertain about their own words, "A-and Siren… she's been doing a lot of bad things. That's why they're trying to find her."

A lot of bad things? Lies! Jacko looked up and locked Crona in an angry glare which had them reeling back, "Siren did not! Siren… Siren good! Cro lying!" he argued with an angry huff. How dare they say that Siren was doing bad things!

A hard fist hit Jacko on the top of the head, not hard enough to hurt but enough to make him wince. Ragnarok was leaned over Crona's thin body, pressing his weight onto Jacko, "Lying? The crazy witch's been flooding cities, capsizing ships and so much more! This year's death count has risen like crazy thanks to her!"

"Lies!" Jacko snapped, smacking his hand into Ragnaroks face to push him away. His hand quickly started throbbing.

"Lies? Oh, ha ha. I guess you know more about what's going on than anyone else, huh?"

"Ye! Jacko know! Know that Siren good! Never hurt someone!"

"Shows how much you know," was the snorted, laughing response. Jacko could feel his blood boiling the longer he and Ragnarok argued like this. How dare he say these things!

Crona looked up helplessly at their weapon, "Ragnarok," they began but was ultimately ignored by the brute.

He leaned down once more, forcing Crona to bend over so that he could be right into Jacko's face. "If you're so confident that you're right about Siren being such a good person, then why don't you go out and prove it?" he asked, his voice a mocking tone, "I mean, if you can prove that she's not as bad as Death thinks, then surely they'll leave her alone, right?"

Prove that Siren is good? Of course, he can do that! He'll just have to go find her and… wait… "Jacko… no know where… Siren is," he admitted. How could he prove she was innocent of whatever crimes this school pinned on her when he didn't even know where she was to begin with? Besides, he couldn't just leave the school, could he left his room, everyone was going to start asking him questions, trying to make him believe their reasons for going after Siren, and who knows what else.

Leaning back, Ragnarok brought one big hand up to his face, rubbing at his chin in thought, "Hm, that is a problem, if the DWMA hasn't been able to track her down, I doubt some scrawny ass brat is going to fair much better," he agreed, "I mean, come on this school is full of veteran witch trackers, better than even the most dangerous predators the wild can produce. There isn't any way some feral kid can track her."

"Hey!" Jacko yelled, offense flowing through him at that insult. Better than any wild predator? No way! Jacko was the best hunter the jungle had ever seen, these students and teachers had nothing on him! "Jacko can track her! Easy!"

"Oh, can you now?" Ragnarok sneered, "You implied just a few moments ago that you couldn't."

By now Jacko was on his feet, teeth bared. Though this wasn't aggression, this was just a matter of showing pride, showing himself as an alpha so to speak, "Jacko a hunter! Jacko can track her!" he assured.

Crona brought their hands up to try and hold Ragnarok back as the weapon tried to reach for Jacko again, "Ragnarok, we can't just let him go out there. Maka'll be mad if we do," the pointed out.

Who cared if Maka was mad at them at this point? She had nothing to do with this, this was about Jacko proving Siren's innocence. "Jacko go!" he stomped his foot to the ground.

"Hold it there, runt," Ragnarok said and rested himself atop of Crona's head, "Dumbass actually has a point. Can't just let you go out there on your own. Surviving in a jungle on your own and surviving traveling through cities and crap are two different things," he pointed out, thinking it over.

Crona sighed in relief, "I'm glad you understand," they mumbled.

"Which is why we got to get you some proper supplies!" Ragnarok decided, earning a stuttering, confused and incoherent reply from a rather surprised Crona. "You won't be able to as easily hunt down for food in the cities, and there's a whole slew of things you'll need. Especially if we want you to get to Siren in one piece," the last part was completely muttered and almost unnoticed.

It was clear by this point that Crona had absolutely no say in this entire conversation. Ragnarok had taken the reigns and what he was planning, Jacko was completely on board with.

"Crona here's got a few backpacks in our room from Tiny Tits crew of idiots. We can use one of those to carry everything in. We've also got some money from these allowances the school gives it's students that we can give you, shouldn't be too hard to get you some food to take with," Ragnarok was just rattling off things at this point, it was hard to tell if he was actually talking to Jacko still or just talking to himself. "It won't hurt to get you some kind of thing to let you communicate with others, that way if we hear anything new on our end we can pass it on to you… maybe the Chupa Cabra witches have something we can use."

Crona looked up at their weapon completely lost for words by this plan that he was making, "Ragnarok, we can't do this. We'll get in trouble," they tried, but as expected, Ragnarok just waved off their worries and even Jacko didn't care much for them at this point.

"Quiet, Crona. If you don't have anything helpful to add then why don't you make yourself useful and just stay silent?" the weapon began grinding his fist into Crona's head a bit before attention was shifted back to Jacko. "You're going to want to take a spare bit of clothing, maybe a coat for when the weather gets bad. Siren will skin us alive if you die of hypothermia or pneumonia before finding her."

"Jacko won't get sick," he assured. He'd survived the harsh weathers of the jungle without any clothing. But… well if it would offer some reassurances to Siren, then he could add extra clothing for this trip. "What else, what else?"

Ragnarok shook his head, "I think that's it," he said, forcing Crona to stand up. "You stay here, don't open the door for anyone but us. We'll go get the supplies. Come on Crona, put those legs of yours to work and let's get you doing something useful for once!"

Watching them leave the room, Jacko quickly closed the door behind them, grinning from ear to ear. He was going to find Siren. He was going to track her down, prove her innocence and save her from this school. But, more importantly, he was going to be with Siren again.

Jacko was so happy about this, he could feel his insides just squirming.

No, he had to get ready. Ragnarok said to pack some extra clothes, so, he needed to find the best things to wear. He also ought to wear something that would make Siren more easily able to recognize him.

Grinning from ear to ear, he rushed to his dresser and began pulling out clothing. A spare pair of socks, an extra pair of undies, those were necessary of course. Now he just had to find… where was it… it was bound to be in here somewhere- ah! There it was!

Taking from his dresser, Jacko pulled out a dark gray button up dress shirt, black button shorts, a new pair of suspenders and some kind of neck tie. It wasn't his original outfit, but, Kid had done a good job at replacing his initial uniform. Even if it wasn't exact, Siren was bound to recognize him with that. Throwing his current clothes to the floor so he could put it on, the sorcerer recalled that, of course, there was going to be one more step to ensure she would notice him. His helmet. He hadn't worn it at all since he came to this school, had he?

Well, he'd be noticed right away if he wore it while here. Best to wait until he was away from the school to put that back on.

By the time Ragnarok and Crona returned with a backpack that seemed already to be stuffed, Jacko had a spare set of clothing folded on his bed, along with a light jacket he'd gotten for the colder days. He bounced right up to the duo as the door shut behind them.

"Alright," Ragnarok said as Crona opened the bag and began taking the items out so that Jacko could see. "Here we have a few granola bars, some single boxes of cereal and other foods you can eat on the go. A canteen of water so you don't go thirsty, don't drink it all in one go unless you wanna start drinking your own piss to stay hydrated," Ragnarok warned as they sorted out the food and water into one pile. He then gestured to a small glass ball, "That there is a crystal ball. Don't break it. We got it from Arisa down at Chupa Cabras, it'll let us talk to you and vice versa. Then over in this pouch here we've got you some money. About a hundred and fifty dollars, that should get you by for a little while if you're careful."

"Got it!"

Crona began storing the items back into the bag carefully as Ragnarok grabbed the extra clothes shoved them in too. Soon the bag was bulging and Jacko was a little worried over if he could actually carry it at all.

No, he had to be able to carry it. He was not going to let the weight slow him down.

"Now, we just have to get you out of here," Ragnarok decided after a moment.

Crona looked up at him warily, "Jacko can't go through the halls, they'll see him right away. How's he going to get out of here?" they asked.

That was true, and Jacko had the same apprehension. How could he leave his room and get out without anyone seeing him? He had to go through halls, pass classrooms and through swarms of students. With a big backpack and the most recent events, he'd be stopped for sure!

Ragnarok laughed at this, "Please, you think I'm as dumb as you?" he asked resting a fist on Crona's head, "Jacko here ain't going to use the halls."

"No?" Jacko asked, cocking his head to the side in confusion.

"Crona! To the window!" Ragnarok instructed, and the meister shuffled over to the high window.

Jacko followed on their heels but didn't understand how he could go through a window. It had bars up on it to prevent anyone from going through it. Besides, it was far too high up for Jacko to even attempt to get up there.

Ragnarok rubbed his hands together as he stared at the steel, "A good thing about where we are, brat, is that our windows face a rather secluded part of the schools property. No one ever goes back here, it's easy to get off the property through here," he explained as he took hold of the bars in his hands, "There supposed to keep people out and in, but this school doesn't understand just how strong I am!"

The metal groaned as he pulled, and Jacko watched in amazement as the steel bent and was soon ripped out by the small black blood weapon. He did the same with the next two bars and soon the window was open and clear. Wide enough for Jacko to crawl through.

"There! Piece of cake!" The weapon cheered as Crona pushed the backpack through the opening. "Come on, kid, let's get you out of here."

There was a grin wider than the suns as Jacko was hoisted up and brought to the window above. He couldn't help but laugh as he felt the grass between his fingers as he crawled out of his room into the open space of the outside.

He was free.

"Thank yous!" Jacko chirped happily as he turned to face the weapon and meister. His eyes were shining with gratitude. "Thank you!"

Ragnarok shrugged, "Don't mention it. Just go find your witch already and don't get killed!"

"Will do!" Jacko assured, grabbing onto the backpack and throwing it onto his back. It was heavy, but nothing he couldn't handle. Taking a deep breath of air, the young sorcerer took off running as fast as he could.

Crona and Ragnarok stayed in his room for a little bit, watching through the window until Jacko was out of sight completely. Only then did Crona look up at their weapon with worry in their eyes.

"Ragnarok, was this a good idea?" they asked.

The weapon responded by driving both his fists against the meisters head, "Of course it was a good idea!" He yelled back, "Are you so thick that you haven't realized? The longer that Jacko stayed at this school, the more screwed this world is. Everything that bitch has been doing was because the brat was here. Getting him out of this city was what that dumb God should had done the moment the kid was all healed up!"

"I know… but…"

"No buts! That witch is crazy, you know that I know that," Ragnarok snapped back as Crona exited Jacko's room and made for their own, "At least now we have some chance of actually surviving. Face it, the school doesn't understand just how dangerous she is and how much worse they made it by keeping the kid."

Crona looked down at their feet, "What if… what if they ask where Jacko went?"

"We tell them we don't know. Play dumb, shouldn't be hard for you."

* * *

 **Authors Note:** Alternate name for this chapter is; In Which Ragnarok Is Helpful. Canonically Crona probably doesn't know Risa and Arisa are witches. But, I feel like witches wouldn't have trouble recognizing their fellow witch if they both attend Witch Mass. I'm purposely ignoring the fact that they're supposed to be Arachnophobia spies at this point in time. Crona probably isn't the type to really spend money on things other than necessities (like food) so having fifty dollars left over from the $200 students get each week shouldn't be hard for them.

But, Jacko's going to be putting his years of tracking down bunnies and squirrels to the test by tracking down Siren.

As for a potential sequel, I am already fleshing out ideas for it. I think its safe to say that if I do write a follow up story after this one, it's going to take place some years in the future. Right now I'm just bouncing about ideas for the main conflict. I'll probably have a more concrete idea by the time this story ends.


	16. Evidence

**Authors Note:** Not a very long chapter, I know. But, I do hope you enjoy. Sorry for the delay, as said in the Becoming Family update, I was pretty caught up in real life. This chapter title kind of sucks so just ignore it.

The story is coming to an end, we're in the final act.

* * *

"We could always try and bring someone into Death City to try and get to him."

"No, remember the last two idiots you had in Death City? Aren't they missing right now or something?"

"They're… um… dead."

Siren scoffed as she glared at the man before her, a tall fellow with a pitch black scuba mask that had some starfish printed on the side. She didn't even _want_ to make up some meeting among the higher ranked 'leaders' (she used that term loosely among these buffoons) of the Children of Water. They were throwing out rather poor ideas of how to get back her Jacko, and as the seconds ticked on, she was doubting their intelligence more and more.

Or maybe she was just growing more and more hostile. That was more likely.

Even though so much time had passed, the absence had her feel sick. Her heart ached and her mind screamed for her precious boy to return to her side. If she were some kind of sap, she might have even begun writing poetry about how she longed to be reunited with the child. No, she'd done the whole 'writing her thoughts and feelings' down before and got bored of it.

"So, tell me," Siren was doing her best to keep her voice even and calm, but her eyes revealed the barely held back anger she felt, "How sending _more_ people into that miserable city will hold any different results? They'll just be killed, too." They didn't know how the two agents even died, not that Siren cared. They went against orders anyways by making a scene. Watch and observe, not kidnap a pair of students and get killed in the process.

Oh well, there would be fewer idiots in the world to deal with that way.

The rest of the organization was well aware that if they displeased her (I.E; did something to piss her off) they could very well be killed. It wasn't as though their lives really mattered any bit to her. Strangely enough, however, it didn't bother them, they embraced a death by Siren as an honorable death. She thought they were a bunch of freaks for thinking like that.

The agent fidgeted in where he stood, fingers fumbling against each other as he struggled for something to say. As much as he may respect and adore his leader, he was equally terrified of her as well.

"Siren, if I may," Eruka was nervous as she approached her fellow witch, "We still have Crona and Ragnarok in the school. They might be willing to help us."

Siren looked up at the frog themed woman with a raised eyebrow, "Those two?" she asked and looked up above her in thought, up at the cream colored ceiling and bright lights. Tossing around the pros and cons of trying to get Medusa's child and subject to help her. Was it worth it? He… she… it was already in the school, the only thing they'd have to do was to find a way to get into contact with the black blooded child.

That was easier said than done.

Turning back to Eruka, Siren gave a small nod, "If you can find a way to get to them, and find a way to get them to help out, then by all means." After that, she stood up and looked at the few that were in with her. She didn't say anything to dispel this meeting of sorts, she just turned and started to walk away and out of the room.

With her back to them as the door closed shut, she brought a hand up to hold onto the turtle necklace she still kept on her. It was silly, she hadn't even gotten to give it to Jacko yet, but it still held importance to her. Well, it was best to keep it on her at all times, that way when she finally did get the boy back she could give him it.

Funny, wasn't it. You only ever realize just how important something was when it was gone.

So long as he was safe. So long as he could survive and live on. That was all that mattered to her. She'd cut off both her hands if it meant he was going to be safe and happy, and she wouldn't even complain about the resulting pain. She couldn't help but grow terrified the more days that passed.

Jacko may have been raised by a law of the jungle, but he was still a little boy. _Her_ little boy. He wasn't that strong, he couldn't survive on his own.

Or… maybe it was Siren who couldn't survive on her own?

She growled as she let go of the necklace and rested her hand on the wall of the hotels wall. Fingernails digging into the wallpaper as webs of ice began to form on the structure. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath and then another as the ice began to spread inch by inch.

"W-witch!"

Hearing the scream, Siren snapped her eyes open and lazily turned her head to stare at the housekeeper who was standing behind her in horror. Her hands shook her knees buckling and face drained of color. Likely her first time meeting anyone capable of magic. Siren watched as she casted a desperate look down the hall, she could see the escape plans forming in the chubby woman's head, her quickest way to a phone and to the police.

Drawing her hand away from the wall, she felt the ice follow into her palm. As the housekeeper turned to run, the witch of water gave a simple flick of the wrist. Seconds later the body hit the floor and blood began forming a small puddle under her.

Siren was slow, lazy almost as she strode up to the house keepers corpse, pushing the cart to the side and gave a flick to the spear of ice that had impaled itself on her. The next moment the ice dissolved into water and she easily siphoned it into a nearby flowerpot. Hide away the evidence, let them think she got stabbed or something by a knife if they bothered investigating the dead hag.

"You shouldn't have screamed," Siren said as she gave a light kick to the body, "I was enjoying the silence."

Taking in a breath of air, Siren turned on her heel and began walking away from the body. How long until someone noticed the dead body? Nobody knew, nobody cared. Or, maybe it was just Siren who didn't care. She had more important things than deal with some human anyways.

* * *

Maka didn't waste any time when classes got over. Her bag was packed up and she quickly made her way to the academy's kitchen. Already there were the ingredients ready for her plan to convince Jacko to leave his room. She'd stored some chicken nuggets and mashed potatoes away before classes started, and she, along with anyone who hung with the boy during meal times, knew he was bonkers for chicken.

Soul lingered in the doorway, watching in silence as Maka went to work cooking the thawed raw chicken nuggets and mixing up the mashed potatoes. He didn't say a word as he crossed his arms over his chest and waited patiently. It had been about two days since Maka and Soul last went down there, he'd managed to convince her to give him space for a few days, and now she was determined to get him to come out so they could talk and try to explain the situation to the boy.

He'd still not come out of his room or talked to anyone. They didn't even know if he was eating at all, it didn't seem like it, and if the weapon was to be honest, he was kind of growing worried for the boy. It was one thing to give the silent treatment to everyone, it was another thing altogether to starve oneself just because you don't want to interact with the others.

"Are you sure he's going to like instant mashed potatoes?" Soul asked as he saw his meister scoop the steaming mashed potatoes she'd taken from the microwave out of their plastic container and onto the plate that already had half a dozen chicken nuggets on it. His eyes followed her as she fetched a juice bottle she left chilling in the fridge.

Stepping past him and out of the kitchen, Maka shrugged, "I think he'll like it, though if this works, he's just going to be glad to have chicken nuggets."

"This doesn't feel right. I know it's important to talk to him, but we should let him come out when he's ready, not force him to speak to us," Soul muttered as he picked up both their bags and followed her down the hall and into the stairs, "I mean, bribing him with food? Not cool."

"I'll be okay with him not listening to us if he actually eats it," Maka responded easily. The lights were getting dimmer and gloomier the deeper they got. Honestly, couldn't the school be bothered to give this part of the school a 'homier' feel to it when the only ones residing down there was a part of the Academy.

Soul couldn't argue with that, he felt the same.

With a heavy sigh that only partly held any truth, Soul continued to trudge on behind his meister. He threw a passing glance at Crona and Ragnarok's room before coming to a stop in front of Jacko's.

Maka knocked softly on the door as though not to startle the child who probably already knew they were there. "Jacko?" she called out to him, knocking a little bit again, "Hey, Jacko, I just wanted to tell you that we brought you some food. It's not much, but, it's your favorite; chicken. Well. Chicken nuggets to be precise, and mashed potatoes. You're hungry, right?" she fidgeted from foot to foot as she waited for a reply, "Um, if you want them all you have to do is open the door."

Both teens waited with bated breaths, listening hard for any sign of movement on the other side of the door. But there was… nothing. No scuffling on the floor, no heavy thud of him tackling the door as though to keep it shut. Not even the usual growl to warn them away.

It was silent. Completely silent.

"Jacko?" Maka tried again, much louder this time, giving the door a heavy knock again. Was he asleep? "Jacko, it's Maka, and I brought Soul. Your, uh, big brother if you're still calling him that."

There was still no response. The two students exchanged wary glances before Soul moved forward and put a hand on the knob. Giving it an experimental turn, he was surprised to find it gave way quite easily and that he could push it open with no problem. That was strange, Jacko had been leaving the door locked since he hid himself in his room.

"Jacko?" Soul asked as he stepped into the room and then nearly right away stepped backward.

The room was empty. Filled with the toys, the bed unmade, clothes strewn on the ground. It certainly looked like Jacko had been living there, but there was no Jacko. A quick look at the window above explained everything. Metal bars had been bent and ripped away, giving enough space for someone of a child's size to crawl through.

The plate of food clattered to the ground as Maka raced towards the window, jumping up so she could try and climb up and see through it, as though Jacko might still be on the other side. "Jacko? Jacko!" She yelled, looking around with eyes wide, "Where did he go? Damn, I can't sense his soul anywhere near!"

"Calm down, Maka, just stay calm, we need to tell Lord Death about this," Soul was quick to try and ease his meister who was rightfully concerned and panicked. A little boy was out of his own having run away from the school. A sorcerer, to boot. Who knew what was going to happen to him out there. But, Soul wasn't as worried as Maka. He'd _seen_ first-hand what Jacko was capable of.

The boy could take care of himself, that was a certainty. It was the people who threatened him that Soul was fearful for.

Soft footsteps approached them, and Soul turned around to see a worried Crona behind them and Ragnarok looking as annoyed as ever.

"What's the cow screaming about?" The weapon demanded, rubbing at the side of his head where an ear would have been, "Some people are _trying_ to take a nap!"

Maka didn't even seemed all that made at the insult, instead she marched up to Crona, looking almost pleading as though they had the answers to this mystery. "Crona! Jacko is gone! You live down here with him, do you have any idea what happened?"

Looking around nervously, Crona glanced up at their weapon almost desperate for some help, "N-No, I'm sorry," they mumbled, "Did he… sneak out, o-or something?"

"Something like that," Soul confirmed, gesturing to the broken bars from the window, "No idea how he managed that, maybe heated the metal 'til it was weak enough to be broken. But the kid is gone and we don't have a clue where he went."

Maka brought a hand to her head, pushing away strands of hair, "We need to find him," she decided, casting a look to the window, "He's just a boy, where could he have gone."

A white hand came over to swat her on the head, causing a light wince from Maka. "Well, pig face," Ragnarok started, giving her another light swat onto her head, "What are you doing standing there for? Go find a professor or someone, dumbass. You're wasting time just staying down here!"

"Can't believe it, something smart from you for once," Soul cracked a grin, "Is it the end or something?" Grabbing his meister by the arm, he tugged Maka along with him, "Come on, Maka. He's right, we need to tell the professors, they might have an idea of what to do and where to find him."

"We'll just stay down here, see if the brat left any hints of where he was going," Ragnarok said, waving as the two started to leave. When they were gone, he leaned onto his meister again, "We're planting fake evidence, you got it?"

"W-what?"

"Did I fucking stutter?" The weapon began tugging at his meisters cheeks, "We're planting fake evidence, I dunno where the hell the kid went off too, but, we're going to help him out by creating a fake lead. So, get to work! And don't do Hawaii, that's probably one of the places the kid would try to get to!"

Crona nodded as they began looking around for something to use as fake evidence, "I know not to do Hawaii, thats where they lived," they mumbled as some papers and crayons were found. They tried to ignore Ragnaroks remarks as they got to work trying to write or draw anything Jacko might have made that could suggest places to run off too.


	17. Dusty Desert Road

**Authors Note:** And, if you look left, you'll see a Jacko Lantern needing to understand a desert =/= a jungle.

Also, on a different note. Anyone ever listened to You Are My Sunshine? Yeah, that song is pretty much Sirens song and theme whenever Jacko is involved. At least in my opinion, anyways. Just felt like bringing that up.

Anyways, onto the fic.

* * *

There was a problem about his whole plan to find Siren that didn't occur to him when he first ran out of Death City, it didn't hit him until a few days of wandering the desert in Nevada.

He had no idea where he was going.

If this were a jungle, or a forest, or any place with dense foliage and blankets of green, Jacko would be pretty fine with this. There would have been a sense of comforting familiarity to it that way. But this was nothing but dusty brown dirt with dried out plants and the only green was prickly and hurt to touch.

A growl escaped his lips as he shook his head a little. He hated how the dirt got everywhere and was so itchy to the touch.

Honestly, where was he even going? Jacko didn't even know where in the world he had been to begin with. Death City, but where was that? Clearly in a desert. But where in the world was that in the world. How was he supposed to even find his way back home in this terrain? Jacko couldn't imagine himself anywhere near the ocean surrounded home he loved when he was surrounded by dry earth here instead. Why couldn't he had been _awake_ when Stein and Marie brought him from his home to the school?

He _may_ have bitten off more than he could chew when he told Ragnarok he could find Siren.

Siren…

No. No, he could still track her down. Just because he was, to be rather blunt about it, lost, didn't mean he couldn't still find where Siren was and just put an end to everything. He prided himself in being a good tracker and track he was going to do.

Determination renewed the energy in his weary bones and the child began marching on with new strength. A grin plastered over his face as he moved forward, a bounce in his step and a howl in his heart. It wasn't that bad, after all. There were plenty of fauna he'd never even seen before in this place! So that brought a bit of excitement to course through him. There were even animals he had seen before, but that looked so much different from what he was used to.

One such animal was on the ground as he passed by. A snake, long with yellowish-brown scales with black stripes on it. The snake was curled up on the hot ground and hissed loudly when Jacko passed by it.

The boy faltered and turned to face the snake, bending forward to curl back a lip, though that action was hidden behind his black pumpkin-themed helm. " _Grrrrah_!" he growled back in return, warning the snake off.

That's right. Out here there were no people. At least not that Jacko had seen. Just animals, wildlife. There was no reason for him to follow by human nature out here, but rather listen to his base instincts instead. Treat this desert the same way he would if he were still in the jungle. That meant he had to make sure any threats knew Jacko wasn't easy prey. Words amounted to little compared to snarls and growls out here.

The snake recoiled, letting out another softer hiss, but didn't snap at Jacko again. Satisfied, the sorcerer adjusted his pack and started walking again.

He wanted to make as much progress forward as he could, regardless of where 'forward' would take him. The nights tended to get pretty cold he found out, and there weren't any safe places for him to make a den for the night, nor enough foliage to keep a fire going through the dark hours. He didn't like that about this place, it made him feel so much more bare compared to the trees, bushes and streams the jungle gave him. If there was a threat he could run and hide, climb a tree or dive into a river, if it got dark out, there were plenty of places for him to settle for the night without worry of a predator approaching. Out here, he had none of that.

No, don't worry about that, it was okay, he could still make do without the safety of the jungle. Besides, his magic was much more developed now than when he was in the jungle. Okay… maybe not all that much more developed, but he could produce actual flames now rather than smoke and embers like he had in the jungle.

Would fire even work on animals here? After all it was plenty hot already, maybe they'd just like the heat.

Focus, Jacko, focus!

He snarled at himself as he smacked himself in the face a few times to try and keep himself from trailing off in his thoughts. Fingers curled up and gentle cuffs on the side of his head was enough to snap him back to attention. This was no time to get distracted! Keep his mind on track, just focus on finding Siren. Any sign of her, be it her scent or sign of her magic. Anything.

Shifting the canteen from the bags side, Jacko unscrewed the top as he walked, taking a gulp or two of the water. That was starting to run low, not good. He would be okay if he ran out of the food Crona and Ragnarok gave him, but water? Not so much. There hadn't been any sign of streams or lakes at all since he'd come out here.

Hooking the canteen back to the bag, Jacko lifted a hand to shield his eyes from the sun as he tried to look up at the sky. The sun was starting its descent. Not good. He felt like he hadn't even gotten that far. Sure he couldn't see the school and city anymore, but, surely he could have made even more distance at this point?

Well, no use complaining. He knew well enough that he was much better off getting to work setting up a den for the night.

"Kin…dle… Kindle…" he murmured to himself as he looked around. There really wasn't all that much he could use to feed a fire, and Jacko couldn't very well use his magic while asleep. Eventually he did find some plants and branches he could use from the dried up shrubs. It took him a little while to dig up a shallow pit to put them all in. When that was done, Jacko stripped himself of all his clothing and stuffed them into his bag, his helmet dissolving into dark clouds of smoke.

Naked and bare, he didn't need to concern himself with accidentally burning up his clothing. He used his magic to start up the fire, which illuminated the darkening land. Dragging his bag closer to the fire for protection, Jacko himself stepped into the flames and laid down, curling up into a tight ball as the fire licked at his skin harmlessly. He'd be warm this way, and safe from any predators as long as the fire kept going.

Tomorrow. Tomorrow he was finally going to find his way out of this desert and make real progress in tracking Siren down.

* * *

He'd been wrong. Very, very, very wrong. At this point, the kid was certain he was just going in circles. It'd been days, maybe a week? Maybe longer? He'd been wandering the dusty rough terrain for too long, his water was out and he was down to his last meal bars that had been packed for him, and Jacko had been stretching those to last as long as he could. Having one every other day in fact.

He was tired. Tired of the dirt, of the brown, of the snakes and spiders and scorpions. Tired of the lack of grass and water and trees.

Not to mention how thirsty he was getting. Without his water, Jacko had tried for other sources of water. At one point he'd, foolish it had been, tried to see if he could get water from the green prickle-trees. His mouth still felt numb from all the needles that went into his lips, tongue and cheeks.

If this kept up, he was going to lose all strength and start being hunted himself. No way he was going to find Siren if he was inside some animal's stomach.

Rubbing at his eyes, Jacko fought back a yawn as he trudged on forward. Exhaustion was seeping into his bones and he didn't even have the energy to snarl at the next snake he passed by. His feet felt raw. There was no soft grass to cushion them as he walked. The vultures circling above was ominous enough to send a shudder down his spine.

"C'mon…" he grumbled to himself, just speaking was a bit uncomfortable as he could still feel the pricks in his mouth. Shaking the dirt out of his hair, he dropped his bag to the ground. The sun had started setting again, so it was time to settle down for the night. He was quick to dig and start the fire, tossing his clothes into his bag and getting rid of his helmet again and curling up to sleep.

The fire was small, growing smaller with each night as his magic supply was drained away. He didn't even have enough kindle to be sure the fire would last all night. But, he was too tired to even care right now.

With his bag down and himself in the fire, Jacko found it rather easy to drift away.

His dreams were sightless, all black as though he were blind. He saw not through his eyes but through sound and smell. They songs in the air showed him bright colors, blue of the sky, green of the grass. The smell in the air showed him the sharp and round shapes around him. So much better than a dusty desert if he was to have a say.

"Jacko…"

His dream-self perked up at the familiar voice. That was… Siren! Siren was here!

Though he could not see, Jacko bounded through the void as effortlessly as though he were on a beach. Following the soft hum of his mother figure, a grin covered his face. Siren! Oh, happy day, happy, happy day!

He didn't slow, not even after he plowed right into a tall soft body, toppling to the ground and wrapping his arms around the cold skin. "Siren!" he cheered, nuzzling against Siren, feeling the rough bandages on his cheeks as thin arms wrapped around him in return. "Jacko miss Siren! Siren miss Jacko?" he asked.

She chuckled softly, "Of course I did," she assured him, burying her face in his hair, "mine. My baby, mine…" she murmured.

"An' mine!" Jacko returned grinning as he purred. So happy. Even if he couldn't _see_ her, he knew it was her and that was more than enough for him. Siren laughed, running soothing motions into his back, murmuring words of love and affection to him as she held on with no intention to let go.

The murmurs slowly turned into growls.

Low growls, the kind that Siren wouldn't make, couldn't make. Her hold on him wavered until it was gone altogether, he couldn't feel her or find her anywhere anymore. The growls were becoming louder.

"Siren?" Jacko whispered, confused and wary. His senses were growing fuzzy as he took notice of the sound of rustling and ripping noises.

Blinking open, the dream faded to reality as the noise became more clear than ever. Low growls, claws, wrapping tearing away. It took Jacko a few moments to realize that the fire pit he'd slept in had died away, even more moments to realize he wasn't alone if the sound was anything to go by.

Pushing himself to stand on his feet, it was too dark to see proper, but Jacko could make out the shape of some kind of dog tearing into his backpack.

"Hey!" Jacko snarled, taking a warning step forward, a low growl escaping him. That was _his_ pack! The dog, coyote, right? It looked up when Jacko growled, it's muzzle covered in crumbs and bits of plastic that it had torn through. Jack crept closer, feeling the hairs on the back of his neck raise. He snarled again, snapping at the coyote, but it didn't back away.

The coyote snarled back, crouching down, preparing for a fight.

Jacko curled back his upper lip and lunged forward, slamming his head into the coyote's side. It lurched back and snapped it's jaws at Jacko, one paw raised and batting him across the face. Sharp pain quickly filled his face and he felt blood drippling down and could taste it on his lips. It was coppery and stung at his tongue.

Narrowing his eyes, he let out a snarl as he tried to knock the coyote down, throwing his entire weight at the canine. But the coyote sidestepped him and bounded around Jacko.

As the sorcerer was pushing himself back up after hitting the ground rather than the coyote, he felt a heavy weight hit him from behind knocking the boy back to his knees. Before he could even react and try to knock the second coyote off of him, he felt claws dig into his bare back and teeth sink into the back of his neck in a tight hold.

It hurt.

It hurt a lot, sharp and hot pain pulsing through his body with his neck the epicenter. The first coyote continued to circle him, snapping and growling as its friend kept Jacko pinned down with one paw on his back and his neck held tight in its jaws. Jacko tried to struggle, but each time he did, the grip on his neck got tighter.

Blood was dripping down, running down his neck and falling into the ground like big, fat, red raindrops. Jacko could only watch as the first coyote went back to rummaging through his thoroughly torn up bag, drawing out the last of the meal bars and gobbling them up. The second one growled lowly, shaking Jacko a little as it held him. His head was growing light and dizzy, teeth digging dangerously close to major veins and his jugular. The boy wanted to cry as he bled, helpless against the predators.

More than that, he felt angry. Angry that he was so helpless right now. That he was so easily pinned down by these scavengers.

That anger was bubbling inside of him, like molten lava, his blood turned hot in his veins. He was not prey, Jacko was a predator, he was the top of the food chain. Better, stronger, smarter than these mutts. He'd handled worse in the jungle; fended off tigers and leopards and crocodiles. Boas and boars. All with just smoke and embers! These dogs were nothing!

Curling back his lip, Jacko dug his claws into the dirt, grounding himself and standing his ground. He blocked out the immense pain as the teeth dug deeper, tearing wider into his flesh. Focused on his own drumming heart, on his own anger and the howling soul inside of him. Taking a deep breath, Jacko let out a snarl.

Whips of flames lashed out from around him, like the pressure rings from an explosion, they burned the coyotes around him. A satisfying yelp echoed in the night air as he was let go, collapsing into the ground as the Coyote, rightfully burned by the smell of it, ran off with a tail between its legs. The other one let out a equally scared noise, following suit.

Letting out a cough, Jacko tried to push himself back up as the fires continued to burn on the ground for a little bit longer. His energy was sapped and he could feel himself bleeding out. He forced himself to crawl to his destroyed bag, searching for something, anything. All he found was ripped money, saliva covered wrappers and broken glass from what he could only assume had been the crystal ball that had been packed in there. He couldn't help but laugh bitterly, the coyotes hadn't spared him anything.

He was dizzy and lightheaded, pain throbbing through him as he closed his eyes. Maybe a nap was in order… and maybe he'd feel better after he woke up. It was still a while longer until the sun would come up, anyways. He had a few hours to go to sleep before he moved forward again.

Closing his eyes, he resolved to just take a short nap.

Whatever happened after that, it was all a blur. Jacko laid in that spot for a few hours, maybe a few days, he wasn't sure. He continued to drift in and out of consciousness. The damage done by the coyotes, especially to his neck, was pretty severe and the blood loss that went on even after he passed out didn't help at all. Nor did the hunger and thirst, but he didn't even have the energy to try and hunt. When he was awake, everything hurt, his tongue was dry and his muscles sore.

He was withering away, wasn't he? He could just see the vultures circling above. He… actually could see them when he was awake. That wasn't at all assuring.

At one point when he managed to crack his eyes, he saw something black ruffling about with the clothes he'd discarded and never got to put back on. Some kind of bird. Jacko tried weakly to growl and reach for it, to no avail, the bird hopped out of his reach and continued to toy with his clothes. Growling in frustration, Jacko closed his eyes to drift back off.

Something soft brushed across his face, tickling his cheeks and the blood cakes over him. Something hard pecking against his chin.

Irritated, Jacko tried to brush it off, but found something hard and cool against his hand. Cracking his eyes open again, he found an apple in front of him and the bird still messing with his clothes. Jacko blinked and looked at it and then the fruit before taking a nibble, then another. It was hard to eat when swallowing sent waves of pain from his neck injury, but he got the apple devoured in record time. The juice helped to soothe his parched throat.

He drifted off again, but only a short while. When he woke up again, he saw the bird… a raven he realized, perched right in front of him. His shirt had been torn into long, thick strips and the bird was staring at him with expectancy.

Enough energy had returned to his body that Jacko could push himself up. A dirt caked hand reached to rub his neck and wince when he felt the deep teeth holes left by the coyote. It bled when he applied pressure. Glancing back at the strips, he found a frown hit his expression. Was the bird trying to… help him? These trips were long enough they could wrap around him, and that's what you did to stop the bleeding, right?

He couldn't find his voice, so he made a low rumble in his chest as he grabbed one of the strips and began wrapping it around his neck like he'd seen Siren do countless times to herself. Loose enough that he could breathe, but tight enough to stop the bleeding. He grabbed another and did it again for more protection, and then with the last strip he wrapped it over his face, trying to cover up the cut the coyote gave him.

"Th…ahn…ks," his voice was grating and dry from the lack of drink to have had in… who knew how long he was out after that fight with the coyotes. He managed to push himself to stand on shaking legs which threatened to give out as he stumbled over to where his pants had been discarded. Now he _really_ needed to get out of the desert as quickly as he could. Injured with no way to hunt or feed, he was a sitting duck out here.

There was no reason to grab on his bag with how ruined it was, and he couldn't even be bothered to summon his pumpkin helm with how tired he was still. But he started walking anyways, he didn't know where he was going and what direction, but he started walking again.

The bird flew up and stopped in front of him, squawking a few times, but the boy couldn't understand what it said.

He watched as the raven went around him, flying in a different direction and stopping to land on the ground and wait. Wait for… Jacko? Now the boy was even more puzzled than he had been before. Was this bird trying to lead him somewhere?

Well, it wasn't like he had any other lead.

"A…igh," he croaked as he limped to the bird who started flying again. Hopefully the bird took him somewhere with water.


	18. Cabbage Patch Friends

_Cabbage Patch Friends_

It was becoming bearable. The trek out of the desert, that was. Though he had no map and no idea himself on where he was going at all, Jacko had found a friend and guide in the raven that had helped him after his coyote fight. His energy had returned, but only bit by bit. He was still terribly thirsty, and sometimes had the urge to just go and eat the bird who was helping him; the crunch of the bones between his teeth… the fresh and bloody meat… they were fleeting thoughts that he shook out of his head rather quickly.

After all, the raven had been helping him. It's been leading him through this desert, every time it got too far away or Jacko trailed too far behind, it'd wait for him. It'd fly back to him to make sure he's still moving. Whenever he had to rest, it'd fly off and he'd doze off, he'd wake up to find it'd brought him something to eat.

Sometimes just a plant, like a flower, sometimes a fruit, a few berries, maybe an apple. Little things to tide him over and sooth his parched throat.

There was one thing that Jacko was certain of, and it was that the raven was smarter than any bird he'd met before. He liked that, he liked to think that the bird was helping him because it liked him, because they were friends. Maybe it just wanted him out of its desert.

His shirt, turned into bandages to wrap around his injuries from the coyotes, felt heavy with the blood they soaked up during his walk. It'd been a couple of days but they still hurt, especially the one on his neck. They felt hot and hurt at any movement. A consistent throb, but at least he didn't cry unless pressure was applied to them.

If he could get to some water, maybe he could wash his injuries, they might help them.

Sitting down to take a small breather, Jacko smiled as the raven flew down and landed on the ground next to him, wings folding to its side as it cocked its head at him, as though asking why Jacko stopped. The boy laughed a little as he reached over and with a single finger started to pet the raven. The feathers felt so silky and soft to the touch, softer than the birds he hunted before.

" _Caw!"_ it squawked, ducking away from his touch and taking a few hops back, that only got Jacko to laugh a bit more.

Waiting a few moments for it to come back over, Jacko leaned back onto his back, wincing as pain flared up from his neck through his body, but toughed it out as he stared at the blue sky and puffy clouds floating in it. A second passed before he rolled over onto his stomach to face the bird perched right in front of him.

Furrowing his brows, Jacko stared at the bird. Clearly it was smarter than the average bird, immensely so. Siren talked about something like this before, hadn't she? Something about familiars, right? If this bird was smart, and was helping him out, did that make it his familiar?

Well, whether it was or not, Jacko was glad to have the birdy around.

"You need name," he decided as he brought his arms to cross over under him, resting his chin on them like a pillow. The bird tilted its head and let out another of its cries, as though to ask him what he meant by that. "Name," the young sorcerer repeated and frowned in thought.

What was a good name to give to the raven? He didn't want to call it 'Birdy', but it also had to be something he'd be able to remember.

" _Caw! Caw!"_ the raven squawked at him in return.

Narrowing his eyes, Jacko suddenly brightened and grinned, "That's it!" he snapped his fingers and pushed himself up onto his knees, "Squawks!"

At his sudden energy, the raven- no, Squawks, hoped a few paces back, staring up at him with beady black eyes and tilting its head again, Then, as though to agree with the name given to it, it unfolded its wings and let out another chorus of squawks.

" _Caw!"_

Jacko couldn't stop grinning. "Caw! Caw!" he returned, on his hands and knees, crouched down and he would have been waging a tail if he had one. He could pretend to be a bird along with his new friend.

Squawks flapped its wings a few times as it took to the sky, hovering in the air a few seconds as though to signal for Jacko to start following it again. The boy did that eagerly, having taken enough time to rest. He scampered after the bird with a smile stretched wide across his face.

* * *

He wasn't sure how much time had passed after that, the sun was about midway in the sky, that was the best judgement Jacko could give. But, to his surprise, a sizable town had come into view as he followed Squawks through the desert. The sand had begun to give way to grass and the desert gave to buildings.

"Out!" Jacko cheered as he stared ahead of him at the city they were approaching. Finally, he was out of the desert, they'd made it to a town!

His smile turned to the raven who landed on his shoulder, "Thanky!" he grinned, gently butting his head against the bird, "thanky, thanky!" he would never have gotten here if Squawks hadn't led him down here. Already he had a plan, or a semblance of a plan at least, forming in his head for what to do. Maybe he could find someplace to rest. That'd be best, sure there wasn't anywhere in town nature wise to make a den out of that would give him privacy and safety. But, maybe he could find some place abandoned.

An old rundown apartment, maybe a closed down shop. Those would work.

Okay, so he needed to find himself a den, then he'd have to restock his supplies, especially with water. He needed to find himself a jug of water or something so he didn't go thirsty again. He just needed a bottle, he'd be able to fill it up by rivers and streams. Food was important, too, but he could hunt. Sure, it'd be a bit harder with the pain, but he'd manage. He always did. What was more important right now was finding a place to stay for a while.

"Den?" he asked, looking up at Squawks. The raven had brought him all the way to the town, maybe it could find him a den, too.

The bird cocked its head to the buildings surrounding them before launching itself off Jacko's shoulder and took off flying. Jacko did his best to follow after the bird. If Squawks knew to take him here, then he had full faith that the raven knew where he could find someplace safe to settle down for the day to regroup before continuing his search.

As he trotted down the sidewalk, he did get a few wild glances sent his way from passerby's. Not that he really understood _why_ they looked at him funny. But, in a logical sense, a kid half-dressed covered in dirt and blood was going to get a few concerned looks.

Squawks paused every few feet, perching on street lights, traffic lights and signs as it waited for Jacko to keep up. The kid was grateful for that as he was led through streets, cut through alleys and wandered about the city following after his new friend. He was so determined to follow without paying heed to where he was going that when the bird stopped, Jacko nearly collided into a sign, able to stop himself just in time with a hairs length of space between him and hard metal.

"Here?" Jacko asked as he looked at the building Squawks led him to. It was large, some kind of… factory? He wasn't sure, but it looked like what the TV showed factories as. It also looked really old, there were windows boarded up with steel and many signs to tell them to stay out. Abandoned would be the only logical thing to derive from the state of the building. Which, meant it was _perfect_ for the kid.

A grin was splayed across his face as he scampered up the concrete steps, cracked, broken and chipped all over, and made his way to the door. It was boarded up too, but there was enough space under one of the planks for him to duck under so he could enter. Squawks flew in behind the kid and took up to a perch somewhere in the high ceiling.

There was no light in the building other than what came from the cloudy, dust stained windows, so it was hard to see a bit. But, Jacko was fine with moving in the dark. If all else failed, he could string up a bit of fire. He could set himself up a nest, get some nice soft leaf covered branches and grass if there wasn't any leftover fabric or tarps in here. Maybe get some water to rise over his cuts and bites, maybe that'd soothe the pain.

Crouching down, Jacko braced his hands against the cold floor as he arched his back much like a kitten stretching, feeling the muscles stretch and spine pop as he did so. A yawn even escaped him a little as he worked his jaw muscle a bit. Now that he had someplace safe for refuge while he got everything back together, he was a little tired. But, he was satisfied, beyond satisfied in fact. It felt like he was finally making some progress!

" _Aaaahrooooh!"_

The boy howled up to the roof, to Squawks, letting even God know how proud he was right now for having gotten this far.

"What was that?"

"Probably some mutt, don't worry about it."

The voices were soft and faint, still farther inside of the factory, but Jacko picked up on them nonetheless and clamped a hand down over his mouth to stifle any other noise he may make. So, he wasn't alone in this place of safety after all. Just who else was in this place, weren't grownups supposed to stay away from these kinds of places?

He was more curious than he was concerned. Dropping back to all fours, Jacko snuck across the factory to a flight of stairs that led to a lower level of it. The rail for the stairs was bent, broken and cut off half way down, and the steps themselves were cracked with big chunks broken in the concrete. Spider webs and dust coated everything. There was even a faint orange light from some light source down in the lower level.

The boy kept quiet as best he could as he crept down the stairs, careful to not make even a peep. He could see shadows on the walls, large and bulky people gathered around some table. Was this some kind of meeting? Weird meeting place if he had any say in it.

"We need to try and get a group closer to Death City _without_ entering. There are a few points we can settle in at; here and here," someone was talking, voice deep and paper rustled in the air as he worked over what Jacko could only assume was a map.

Someone, feminine in voice and shadow, gave a light scoff, "Just because those two fucked up no one is allowed to enter the city. Really, it'd be so much easier if we'd just go in, not everyone is as bad as they were at 'don't make a scene'."

So far no one had noticed Jacko slinking down the stairs. Just a bit lower and he'd be able to look into the room from the stairs and see who was talking.

"This is a _direct_ order from her," someone else retorted with a bit of an attitude in his voice, "Are you suggesting we go against what _she_ wants? If so, then you've more balls than all the men in this room combined."

"I- That's not what I meant and you know that!" she stammered in her speech.

Jacko slowly eased himself down the final steps and leaned forward from where he stood to peer into their meeting room. His heart stopped and his chest tightened as he suddenly found it _very hard_ to breathe. It was as though the entire world just froze when he saw the group.

Masks.

Scuba masks that covered their entire faces,

He'd seen these masks before.

Memories flooded his mind without remorse of not even all that long ago. Him and Soul tied up. Two men wearing masks. The smacks, the kicks, the punches. He felt the ghost of the pain flare up in his ribs, as though they had been bruised and broken yet again. He could feel all the bruises on his body from the beating he got as though they were still there.

A whimper threatened to escape and Jacko's entire body was trembling.

 _Why were they here?_ What were they doing here? Why them? Why were the ones here have to be these awful people again? Jacko didn't want to see them ever again, he didn't want to be hurt by them again, tied up and knocked out and hit over and over again until he would submit himself back to basic instincts to survive.

He'd almost hurt his big brother because of them.

Without thinking, Jacko turned where he stood and raced up the stairs. He didn't care if he was silent or made more noise than an elephant. He ran. As fast and hard as he could to get away from them.

His heart was racing in his chest, fear coursing through his entire body. The masked faces not leaving his mind. Closing his eyes, he shook his head to try and free himself from their grasp. Looking back up, he narrowly managed to duck under the wooden plank boarding up the door, tumbling out onto the street.

The hard sidewalk scraped and skinned his hands and knees as he tumbled out into the public, drawing blood as skin peeled and sending stinging pain through his body, but he paid it no heed. Behind him, Squawks flew out from the factory behind him. Had the masked men seen him? Were they following him?

The child just ran blindly down the streets Squawks followed him from above, keeping up with the ease only a bird could possess, but offered no guidance on where to go and where to hide. Jacko's heart was racing, fear pulsing through his body.

He increased his speed until he was on all fours, bare feet and hands slamming into the paved ground like his life was on the line. It felt like his life was on the line- who knew what would happen if the masked people got him again. He didn't know or care where he was going, so long as he was able to get as far, far away from them, get somewhere he'd be safe from being hurt by them again. He didn't want to be hurt by people like them ever again.

The world around him started to become a blur of colors streaking by that gave little hint as to where he was. Slowly the shops and towering buildings gave way to yards and houses and people. He curved in his run, trying to get away from people and fearing he'd charge into another masked person if he wasn't careful.

Going so fast, with tears of fear leaving him half blind, he didn't see what was right ahead of him, and ended up tripping and becoming tangled into thing metal wiring as he was propelled forward into the ground.

Jacko landed hard in a dirt patch filled with green. The wiring that had surrounded the small patch had tangled up around his legs, cutting into his skin and drawing blood. It was so tight he couldn't help but whine out in pain. His adrenaline had worn off, pain no longer numb but flowing into him like a hammer to the fingers, and now all he was left with was a crippling sense of fear and despair.

The child buried his face in the dirt as Squawks perched up on a fence post, and let out a long, muffled sob. What was he going to do? The masked people were here, who knew where else they were. Who knew what they'd do if they caught him again.

"Damn raccoons!" a voice hissed through the air as a door was thrown open and his keen hearing picked up the sound of a shotgun being loaded, "I told ya that if I caught your sorry hides in my cabbage patch one more time, I'd make hats out of y'all!" He weakly lifted his head to see a woman aiming her gun towards the garden he was in. But, she took one look at him and dropped it when she realized what was tangled in her gardens wired fencing was not a raccoon but a child.

"…Why's there a half-naked tot in my garden?" she blinked, flicking the safety on her gun as she leaned it against the side of her door, "Well, I sure as heck ain't shooting you." With that, she stepped over to the garden and crouched down next to Jacko who was still crying, but had eased up now. By this point, Squawks had taken off to the air again at the presence of another person. The woman got to work getting the wires off of Jacko with gentle movements not expected from rough looking hands. She looked up at the boy as she worked and took a look at his tear streaked and still fearful expression "Hey, hunny? What's the matter? You're pretty banged up, what happened to ya?" She reached over to try and touch his makeshift bandages around his neck. At the contact, Jacko curled up into a little ball as the pain shot through the injury and the woman recoiled her touch, "Hey, hey, it's okay, stringbean, I'm not gonna hurt ya, okay?"

With all the wiring off of Jacko, the woman scooped him up into her arms and stood up. Jacko only half-heartedly fought her for a moment before just falling weakly against her chest in tears. Exhaustion seeping into his bones. "Shh… poor little thing. Why, you look like you just got chewed up by a mutt and spat right out, don't worry I'll get ya fixed right up," she stepped out of the garden and pressed a soothing kiss to his brow, "Ya look hungry, came crashing into my garden at the right time then, was just getting set up for lunch," as she said that she turned back to the door and took in a breath of air, "Hey! Mickey, set an extra plate, will you, hun? We've got company!"

At the idea of food, a real meal instead of just one or two things each day, Jacko perked up a little, "Ch… chic-chic?" he asked, hopeful. What he wouldn't do for a bit of chicken, or, well, any meat if he were to be honest.

The kind woman just laughed, "I'm assuming you mean chicken?" she asked and the boy nodded his head in agreement, "Well, turkey sandwiches count, right?" Turkey was close enough to chicken, he was perfectly fine with that.

By this point Jacko's cries had died down completely into curiosity and a bit of hesitation as he was cradled in her arms and brought into the house. Jacko could catch the sound of someone in the kitchen as he was carried past it and brought down a hall. The inside of the house had pale yellow walls and hard floors. It looked homely, it reminded him of the warmth and comfort of his home back in Siren. On the walls were family photos that they passed. The woman carrying him and a man, both looking considerably younger, than the woman holding a baby swaddled up, and then another with a different baby. There were other photos, too, but Jacko looked away from them. His chest was starting to hurt, it made him think of Siren.

The woman brought him into a bathroom and set him down on the ledge of the tub. "Look at you, you're all dirty, hun," she tutted as she turned to grab some washcloths and a first aid kit, "We'll get you all cleaned and patched up, then get you something to eat."

Wetting the cloth, she knelt in front of Jacko and began gently scrubbing away some of the caked on dirt on his face. He watched as she scrubbed and the rinsed the clothe off, the water turning brown as the dirt came off. Had he really gotten _that_ dirty? Well… he had spent several days… maybe a couple of weeks by now in the desert with no chance to wash off. He did his best to hold still for her, eyes closed as she ran gentle circles over his dirty skin with the clothe. He couldn't help but expect tendrils of water be brought up to rinse the dirt off of him.

She grabbed a bucket and began pouring the warm water over his hair, letting the sand and dirt run out with the water and return his hair to its pale color rather than the brown hue it'd taken on, "My name's Maggie, I ought to have said that earlier, but, I suppose names aren't all that important when you get down to it." She introduced herself as she ran her fingers through his hair as she poured another cup of water over him, loosening some of the dirt from his scalp.

Jacko waited until the water finished pouring so he didn't swallow any before he spoke, "Maggie?" he repeated and tested the words around in his mouth, "Maggie… nice."

There was a pause from Maggie as she took in his odd way of speaking, but only for a brief moment did she falter. Soon she returned to her task and gave a small hum, "I'm glad you think I'm nice, string bean, not many people do."

Jacko didn't understand what she was talking about, why she would say not many people thought she'd be nice, so far she was the nicest person he'd met here, but he didn't try to focus on it. A hiss let out as she moved to try and wash some of the dirt away from his neck, feeling the pressure on his injuries. As he did that, Maggie stopped again and put the washcloth down, a concerned look taking up her expression.

"What did they do to you, ya poor thing," she muttered and looked at Jacko in the eyes, "I'm going to try and patch up your injuries now, this may sting, okay?"

The boy gave a slow nod and grit his teeth as she began undoing his shirt shreds he'd used as bandages. Starting with the one on his face, his nose and cheek stung when the fresh air hit them and he could see a bit of blood and other fluids on the dirty cloth. She tossed it in the trash bin before working on the one around his neck. Now that one hurt, a lot. The blood and who knew what else made it stick to his skin, and though Maggie was careful, it still sent waves of pain when she slowly tore it off him, like ripping a Band-Aid off but multiplied by twenty…hundred.

With his injuries given a chance to breathe, Maggie looked over them with care. Though it'd been a few days, they hadn't healed all that much yet, specifically the bite at his neck. The bite was still rather bloody, the flesh around it was slightly swollen and an angry red. There was a cloudy green and foul smelling fluid dripping from it along with the blood, and even hotter to the touch than Jacko's usual skin was.

"No doubt about it, your necks been infected," Maggie said as she began shuffling through the medicine cabinet and withdrew a brown bottle. "This should help clean it out, I'll get you some antibiotics later to stomp out that nasty infection, let's get it cleaned up first." The woman took a new, clean cloth and ran it under warm water. Jacko did his best not to whimper and whine as she ran it over his injuries, washing away the dirt, blood and puss that covered his neck. He squirmed where he sat, grit his teeth and dug his nails into his legs as best as he could to try and bare the pain.

It didn't take long, but it felt like eternity. Maggie washed up his cuts from the gardens wire and bandaged his wounds from the coyotes. His neck still flared with pain, but she promised the medicine she'd get him would take care of that.

"How ya feeling, munchkin?" Maggie asked as she helped Jacko off the tub. The boys' legs still felt a bit wobbly, but he offered her a weak smile.

"Better," he answered.

Maggie smiled in return and held her hand out for him, which he eagerly took hold of, wrapping his smaller fingers around her calloused ones, following as she led him out of the bathroom and back down the hall. His stomach rumbled in anticipation as they neared the kitchen for the promised food. That earned a laugh from the woman who'd taken him into her home.

"Tell me something, hun, do you like pudding?" Maggie asked as they walked.

"I like pudding," he answered with a smile.

"Mm-mm, well, then you're in for a treat! My son makes the best damn pistachio pudding in the world! It'll knock your socks right off your tiny feet," she ruffled his hair and was pleased to hear a small giggle in return. They entered the kitchen and there was a tall, lanky boy with dyed black hair and heavy headphones wrapped around his neck, he was dressed in more black than someone at a funeral, "This here bundle of sunshine and trouble is Mickey," she introduced the teen who was currently putting together some food, finishing touches for lunch it would seem.

At hearing his mother's voice and his own name, Mickey turned around to look at the two who stood in the doorway, "Mom?" Mickey stared at the tiny boy who was now trying to hide behind Maggies legs, "Did you go and kidnap one of your book club friends kids to raise as your own?" It was hard to tell if he was joking.

But Maggie chuckled, so Jacko assumed he was joking, "I swear on my gran's grave that's not the case, though I wouldn't mind adopting such a cute little boy," she smiled as she led Jacko to the table and pulled out a chair for the boy, "Was just telling the string bean here about your famous pistachio pudding. I think the stray could use a few helpings of it."

At that, Mickey smiled, "I sure do, mom here likes to put… mustard in hers for some reason, but I prefer whipped cream as a topping," he explained to Jacko as he brought over a plate of sandwiches and cradled a bowl of pudding in his arms, placing them on the table he looked at Jacko, seemingly easily accepting this new strange guest into his home, "You like pistachios, lil' bean?"

"Never… 'ad any," Jacko admitted with the shake of his head, he'd never even heard of pistachio before. Before he could ask anything else, Mickey took a spoon from the large bowl and scooped a few big spoonful's in the porcelain bowl next to the plate that had been in front of him. He made a small face at the mushy, goopy looking texture with the green hue. "Pudding?" He asked as he poked it with his spoon. He'd seen it brown, he'd seen it yellow, but never green.

"It gets better, lil' bean," Mickey told her. He held up a tin can and shook it, Jacko's eyes lit with excitement as he sprayed a spiral of whipped cream into the center of her pudding and topped it with a cherry.

"Aaaah! Cloud! Fluffy cloud!" he breathed out, staring at the can in amazement, "Can of clouds?"

"Something like that," Mickey grinned as he capped the can and placed it on the counter, "But I prefer to call it The Magical Fluffy Stuff That Makes Everything Taste Amazing. Try some."

Dipping a cautious finger into the cream, Jacko brought it to his mouth and took a taste. Immediately, the child all but dove his face into the fluffy cream cloud as he took his spoon and shoveled the pudding into his mouth. Between the hunger and just how great it tasted, he couldn't bring himself to slow down.

Maggie laughed, "And I just cleaned your face up too…" she shook her face, her eyes were lit with a motherly kind of affection, "So, hunny, what's your name? No, let me guess…" Maggie scrunched up her face a little in concentration, looking at Jacko with an analytical look in her eyes as she tapped a single finger against her chin, "Michael? Ya look like a Michael."

Cocking his head to the side, Jacko thought on the name. Michael? He _knew_ a Michael, there was a guy with that name back in the town by his home. He was super nice and took Jacko out surfing with him. "No," he answered with a shake of his head and a grin curling up at the corner of his mouth.

"No? Well… hmm…" Maggie stared at him more as Jacko grinned, licking at the corners of his mouth to get any leftover pudding that was on his mouth. "Well, I give up," she surrendered, raising her hands into the air.

When she did that, Jacko puffed his chest out a bit with pride, "M'name Jacko!" he chirped enthusiastically, "Jacko Lantern!"

The mother and son stared at him when he said that, and he could see Maggie's eyes looking him from top to bottom, taking in all his details. Why? He wasn't quite sure, but he wasn't sure if he liked the silence that had followed when he gave his name. Was there… something wrong with his name? His shoulders drooped and he found himself shifting away from them in a cower like position, finding himself afraid of the silence and the unreadable expression on their faces.

But, as though it had never happened, Maggie's face broke into excitement, a fire in her eyes, "Well, I'll be," she breathed, "I never thought, of all the kids to come crashing into _my_ cabbage patch. Talk about a blessing."

Mickey looked at Jacko then back at Maggie, "Wait… so, you're telling me that he's-"

"Sure is! No one else by that sort of name."

Honestly? Jacko wasn't sure what they were talking about or what was going on. Was there something special about his name? He didn't know, and it confused him to no end. But… at least it didn't seem like a bad thing, whatever it was. That was a relief.

Another spoonful of pudding was placed in his emptied bowl with another serving of whipped cream before he knew what was happening, "Eat up, string bean, trust me you're gonna want to get some food in your stomach," Maggie told him as she recapped the bottle and began munching on her own lunch.

Smiling, Jacko nodded and got to eating his meal. Having more than just a fruit here, a plant there was filling. Of course it was. And being able to eat some meat again, even if it was cold turkey slices; forgive his language but damn was it amazing.

It didn't take him long at all to finish off his pudding and sandwich, and he just sat in his chair content with his full stomach while Mickey and Maggie finished up with their lunch. When they were done, Mickey grabbed the plates and took them off to the sink as Maggie led the boy around the house again.

"You're welcome to stay here for a while, hunny, I'd honestly recommend you do so, what with that nasty infection you've got going on. I'd hate for you to drop dead because it went untreated," Maggie said as she led him up a set of stairs. There were more photos lined up of Maggie, Mickey and what could only be presumed to be the rest of the family. They passed by a rather fat cat snoozing at the top of the stairs and Jacko gave it a little pet.

If he stayed here… that would mean it'd take him longer to find Siren. But, if he had an infection that was bad, right? Besides, his neck hurt and so did his face from where the coyotes got him, and if it was better, health wise, for him to let it heal, then surely Siren would be okay with that? She'd rather him not be in pain and sick when he caught up to her.

"Can Jacko?" he asked her.

"You can stay as long as you want, hun. You can even use my other bundle of troubles room; he won't be needing it, what with being off at college and all that. I'll have Mickey get you some new clothing too, you'll freeze your butt off with only a pair of pants to wear."

Jacko smiled and nodded, "Thanky!" he wrapped his arms around her leg and buried his face into her to show his gratitude, "Thanky!"

He was just going to stay here until his neck healed up, then he was going to resume his search for Siren. The boy was immensely grateful that Maggie would allow that, and was taking such nice care of him too.

* * *

 **Authors Note:** Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!

I was _purposely_ late with my chapter this time, I wanted to update this on Valentine's Day as a present since I really liked writing this chapter and really hope you guys like this chapter too.

Jacko is, for better or worse, one hell of a people magnet. No one can resist the charms of a kid who's also like a puppy. Anyways, next chapter we'll get another look at what's going on with Sirens group and the DWMA. Jacko's mission to find Siren is on hold for a little bit thanks to that infection. I mean, when you got a nasty, really deep bite that's lucky to have not cut into any major veins by an animal that probably has so many germs in their mouth, and then only tend to it by wrapping it with an already dirt covered fabric; it's bound to get infected. Jacko didn't even have any water to try and rinse out the wound while he was out of town.


	19. Plots and Plans

**Authors Note:** Just a rough estimate, nothing concrete, but, I think maybe five-six chapters left of this story. Give or take. Then I'm not sure if I'll move directly onto the sequel after that or not, we'll see.

I just can never be satisfied with chapter ten. I've changed up the ending _again_. More like I just removed one potential plot point-plot hole all together. Last time I change that conversation, I swear. It doesn't even affect anything that's happened so far.

* * *

"We've still not found him," Stein said as he held a file in front of him. Beside him were Marie and Spirit as they stood before Death. The investigation was practically complete now in trying to find where Jacko had run off too. It'd been a while now, and though they had sent out students and faculty as soon as they found out the boy had vanished, no one had been able to find him, not even a small trail.

Honestly speaking, it was becoming a growing concern that the kid was dead. After all, there was no way he could survive out in the desert surrounding the city for that long. He may be a fire user, but he was still human, even if he was a sorcerer. No one wanted to say it out loud, but they all knew that the longer they went without finding the boy, the greater the chances were that he was dead.

They'd done everything they could to investigate his room and find some trail, any lead that would suggest where Jacko may have gone. Sid was out, with a few older students and members, to try and head up the way that the boy may have taken if he were to try to go back home to the islands. So far nothing was found. According to Ragnarok and Crona, the kid had chatted with them often when no with the others and had made many mentions of wanting to go south, to 'where it's warm' as the weapon put it.

It made sense, the boys nature was fire, why wouldn't he want to stay where it was warm? Kid, along with Liz and Patty, were currently roaming south in hopes of finding him, but like Side, the group hadn't managed to catch him yet or even catch a glimpse of his soul wavelength.

"I'm sure he'll show up soon enough, there's no need to worry," Death assured the trio as he waved one large hand about in a carefree manner, "I have faith in the boy and his ability to survive. If he wants to be found, he'll be found. Just be patient," it was easy for him to say, they supposed, the Reaper hadn't had any direct contact or interactions with the child. "What about the witch? Have you any news on her yet?"

It was Spirits turn to shake his head, "No," he answered his meister, "Every lead we get, she and her cohorts are long gone. No matter what we're always three steps behind her. I don't know about everyone else, but it's really starting to piss me off."

It was pissing all of them off. This was going on for far too long, they should have already caught and killed the witch months ago, but they just couldn't catch her. In a way it could be entertaining, a worthy hunt, but none of them found it that way. They just wanted this to be over with already.

"Well, keep trying," Death answered calmly, "She's bound to slip up soon enough, and then you can catch her. No one can keep this up for too long."

"It could always be worse" Marie offered.

Stein took a drag from his cigarette and shook his head, "I don't see how, unless she pulls a Medusa and attempts to resurrect the Kishin as well," he responded dryly, "She's already accumulated a sizable army of both humans and witches, and there is the chance that, with how many have come to follow her, that if we kill her we'll just turn her into a martyr and make things worse."

"I'll admit, it is disheartening to know so many humans would blindly follow and adore a witch of such a destructive nature," Death agreed. "I don't want to do this, but, if we get Jacko back, we may have to use him as bait to lure her into Death City so we can finally catch her."

"Would she even take the bait?" Marie asked.

"Oh, she would."

Stein shook his head again, cranking the screw on his head as he blew out a puff of smoke, "the problem is, we'd need Jacko for that. If we try to fake it, it may blow up in our faces; who knows if she has any more spies in the city or in the school itself."

There was a hum of agreement from the group that was broken by Death giving a clap of his hands, "Okay, then our priorities are going to be finding Jacko, if we can't catch up to Siren we'll use him as bait to bring her to us, but we need to keep a close eye on her own movements, try to find any weak point that we may use to get her without having to use the boy."

"I'll see if I can get a hold of Sid or Kid, maybe they found something by now," Spirit offered.

Marie took hold of Stein by the arm, "We'll go back to tracking down the Children of Water and Siren, maybe today will be the day we find out where they're going before they get there," was her addition.

Death nodded at them, "Try to be quick, we want this to be over with soon."

* * *

Siren furrowed her brow as she held in front of her a map. A simple map of all the nations, beside her on the table were more maps focused on smaller areas and single nations. Notes had been written in blue ink in the margins of the crispy browned paper. Occasionally she'd tap the fountain pen against her chin in thought as she contemplated what she read and wrote. Strategies and tactics… they weren't exactly her thing nor something she enjoyed, but she was quickly getting the hang of organizing an army.

Was she fond of these cultic insane humans? No. Did she like the few witches and sorcerers who were joining? Not at all.

But, they were a means to an end. That was all that mattered in the end.

She looked up when footsteps approached and a tall, middle aged man walked into the room. A phone in hand as he chatted in a hushed voice. "Very well, keep it up, if we can spread them out then they'll be weaker," he explained and came to a stop, giving a brief farewell as he hung up the phone, "My lady. We've updates on DWMA movements, they've made no direct movement to stop us and we've no word on Jacko as of yet."

"Of course not, that'd be too good of news," Siren scowled as she folded up the map, "Do you have anything _useful_ to tell me, Cross?" she asked her de-facto second in command the useless Children of Water elected as their representative. She could do without him most times, but she had to admit that Cross had some pretty good ideas some days, and he was a bit more tolerable than the others.

He just smiled, as though everything was just fine, "We've narrowed down some locations, I propose we go down to the deepest South of the world."

"South." As in… the South Pole kind of South? "Where it's cold and snowy?" Siren raised an eyebrow at his proposition, not quite sure if she understood him right. What would they gain from going that far south? "Do explain to me why you think we should go south like a flock of birds."

He walked over to her, then past her, walking around the table and fishing out one of the maps Siren had been looking through. He unfolded the parchment and laid it flat on the table, pointing at the bottom of the world on the map with a sly little smile on his face, "You're a water manipulator, and apart from the oceans, where is there an enormous supply of water found?" he asked and before Siren could even offer an answer the man went on, "In the North and South poles. Now, the North Pole has no land under it, which, with the water as freezing as it is, would be useful for you. But, it can't be a battlefield. South, however, has Antarctica, which does in fact have land under it along with the ice and snow." He gestured to each place he pointed at.

Leaning against the table, Siren watched as he worked lazily, not committed but willing to listen to this plan of his.

"Now, with Antarctica, you can manipulate the water around you, be it in its liquid, oceanic form, or the snow or even the ice. DWMA forces will be more likely to follow us out here because they can fight us on this terrain," Cross went on, fishing on the table for a pen and then circled the land with red ink, "Except, you, my dear Siren, will have absolute control over the battlefield. You can freeze them, impale them, drown them, however you want to. You're going to be surrounded by water in every direction and they will have no way to cut you off from it. If we can get majority of their forces to follow us to Antarctica, we can wipe out most of Death's pathetic army, if not all of it, and then our only obstacle will be the reaper himself. You could storm their gates and take him on yourself with his army all but gone."

Take on Death himself… Was he even organic to begin with? Siren may have confidence in her own destructive abilities, but, she wasn't all too sure she could kill Death like Cross thought she could. But… his son was organic, as far as she knew, so, surely the Grim Reaper could be killed just the same. Siphon out all his blood, fill his lungs with water, force his heart to stop beating, the possibilities were virtually endless for her.

If she could get rid of his entire army in one fight, then nothing could stop her from walking into Death City and taking back what was hers.

Cross waited patiently as Siren stared down at the map and contemplated this plan of his in her head. It had its pros just as it had its cons. She wasn't all too sure about it, but, he had raised up several good points. Down there she could just freeze the entire army in ice, or impale them with thousands of ice needles. She actually hadn't gone out and used her magic to such a degree in a long time, there were spells she hadn't used in years that she could whip out down there.

The more she thought of it, the idea of getting rid of all those pathetic soldiers, the more she was coming to like it.

"Give the order, I want this useless lot you've got to start organizing themselves and preparing. It's going to be cold down there and I don't want to hear any of them complaining about it when we get there," Siren decided as she picked up the map and marked their current location, "I want the quickest and best routes planned out. I want Death City to know what we're doing and where we're going. Make as big of a fuss of it as you can to lure them all out. Kill as many of their stationed units outside of Death City as you have to if that's what it'll take to get Death to send everyone at us."

With a bow, Cross was grinning ear to ear, "As you wish, my lady," he said as he straightened back up and put his mask back on over his face, "I'll see to it that we're ready to go before the week is up."

Siren nodded and looked at the map again, eyes wandering to where Death City was marked. Her hand came up to hold onto her turtle necklace, "One last thing, Cross," she called out as the man prepared to take his leave. She waited until he'd stopped and turned to look at her before continuing to speak. "Do you… Do you have any children of your own?"

"I do," there was pride in his voice, the kind of pride she'd never once heard her own mother use, and wondered if it was the same tone of pride and adoration she used when talking about Jacko. "My youngest will be turning one in a few months, in fact. Quite rambunctious the family is," he continued on.

The witch frowned but didn't turn to face him as she continued to examine the map, "If your kid was taken by your enemy with no direct way for you to take him back without risk of bringing harm to him… what would you do?" She asked him. What would Cross do if he and his youngest had been placed in the same position she and Jacko were in. What would a human do in that situation?

He was silent for a moment before taking a step towards her, "I'd very likely do the same as you are doing. Tearing the world apart to get back my child," he answered. Siren focused on his words and tone, trying to detect any sign of a lie, but found none. "A parent is supposed to love their child more than anything else in the world. My children, to me, matter more than all the lives on this planet combined, and I'm positive you feel the same to Jacko."

"He's the only good thing this world ever made," Siren muttered as she felt her nails digging into the wooden surface.

A silence lingered between them after that, neither saying a word, waiting for the other to speak. After a few seconds, Siren took a deep breath, she hadn't realized how tense she had become in the short time span. Releasing it, she turned back to the human with a short nod, "Get going, do what you need to have the others ready to go. We're finishing this once and for all."

She didn't need to see it to know Cross was smiling as he gave yet another bow, "I will get it done," he promised and with that he was off.

Waiting until he was out of sight, Siren leaned against the table and stared at the ceiling. More than anything else in the world, huh? He'd hit the nail on the head with that. She loved Jacko, that was the only reason she'd been doing any of this. All this pointless deaths and destruction, that was all on Death for taking him away from her.

It was about time they finally finished this.

* * *

The world was dark. The only light the dim sparks from the street lamps flickering at the edges of the house and the inside of the house itself casting a faint glow. Jacko was crouched atop a trashcan. He had made himself as small as he could on his perch, watching the yard intently, though unmoving where he crouched. His muscles were coiled tight, ready to pounce.

At the corner of his eye he saw slight movement. His gaze followed as it moved, pausing here and there to snuffle at the ground. He waited. Waited for it to draw nearer, closer to him. So far the vermin hadn't noticed Jacko's presence as it scuffled along.

Drawing towards the garden whose wiring was still a gnarled mess from Jacko, it perked its head and hurried towards it with determination fueling it. Jacko felt his muscles contract as he prepared himself.

Just a few more feet… Count the seconds to get closer; five… four… three…

The trashcan rocked and fell as Jacko launched himself off of it.

The raccoon froze for a second at the sudden commotion, but as it prepared to run, Jacko landed atop it, placing his entire weight to ensure the vermin didn't run. A snarl escaped him as he dug his claws into the coarse dark hairs. Blood beaded up as the raccoon squirmed in desperation against him, but it was too late for the little beastie.

It took a single bite to the tender throat and the raccoon fell limp under him.

Easing himself up and relaxing his muscles, Jacko drew his head back and took in a deep breath of air to fill his lungs, " _Aaaahooooo!_ " he howled up to the full moon in the sky. A right and proper kill that was! Pride coursed through him, flowing through him like the blood in his veins. It'd felt so good to hunt again.

A smile was trapped on his face as he stood up, grabbing onto the raccoon by its tail and carrying it back to the house. The door had opened, probably drawn over by his howl, and he grinned at the man standing there, holding his kill up proudly for Mickey to see.

"You weren't kidding when you said you were a hunter," he praised as he stepped out of the way for Jacko to enter the house, "You killed that raccoon way quicker than mom can with her gun."

Jacko puffed his chest out in pride at that and then adjusted his hold on the raccoon, "Not done," he explained to his new friend, placing the raccoon on the empty table and pulling up a chair so he could access it easier. Mickey followed, sitting down across from him, "Skin it, meat to eat," he dug his nails into the raccoon's skin, hooking his fingers under them.

"I've never had raccoon meet before, is it any good?" Mickey asked.

Jacko nodded as he grinned, raccoons were a rarity even before siren, but he certainly enjoyed eating them. Sticking out his tongue, the boy worked carefully to separate the fur from the meat with precision he rarely used for this kind of work. Usually, he would just tear into it, fur and skin be dammed; he could spit out what he couldn't eat. But, this time he had someone with him who wouldn't be as pleased with swallowing animal fur. Also, he wanted to show off just a little.

It wasn't a quick process by no means, but, he did manage to skin the raccoon with its fur relatively in one piece discarded on the floor. The smell of blood filled the air and his mouth watered at the sight of the raw meat. Maybe he could have just a _little_ bite.

Before the boy could actually make any move to grab onto the carcass, however, Mickey swiped it off the table and placed it on a metal tray of some sorts.

"Well, let's wrap this fella up and keep him fresh in the freezer. Maybe mom can cook him up for lunch or dinner tomorrow," Mickey said as he grabbed some tinfoil and got to work wrapping the raccoon up in it, "How's that sound, Jacky?"

Jacko blinked and thought of the idea for a moment before nodding his head furiously. He really did enjoy the idea of getting some raccoon for dinner tomorrow. Maybe he could catch a few more so they would have more to eat tomorrow!

The two were too caught up in the ideas of raccoons and eating them that neither noticed Maggie watching from the doorway with an easy smile on her face, nor the sound of the door opening and creaking shut at the front of the house.

Maggie did, however, and she turned around to face her husband who was draping his coat over a hanger and dropping a full duffle bag to the ground. "Welcome back, dear," she greeted as she drew away from the boys to meet her husband in the living room, "You're back mighty late, anything happen?"

"Sorry, love," Robert shook his head before giving his wife a kiss to the cheek, "Our meeting ran a bit long, we have quite a bit to plan out. Had to drop some of them off by Death City and the drive alone takes a few hours. I would have come home sooner if I could, you know that."

Maggie shrugged but smiled, "It's fine, I understand completely, what you do with them is important, after all," she assured him and her face quickly brightened with eagerness to showcase what had happened to them that day, "Robert, hun, you wouldn't believe who came crashing into my cabbage patch this afternoon."

"I don't know, Abe Lincolns reanimated corpse?"

"Oh, hush. That isn't even funny," Maggie have him a light shove, but Robert was grinning, clearly pleased by his own half-attempted guess. She waited a few seconds to give him another chance at guessing before she went ahead and spilled the identity of her current guest, "A little boy by the name of Jacko Lantern, and he does in fact fit all the details." Roberts eyes widened and mouth fell open but Maggie went on, excitement clear as she spoke, grasping her husband's hands in her own, "He's in the kitchen with Mickey, fixing up some raccoon the boy caught for dinner tomorrow. He's the real deal, Robert,"

Running a hand through his balding hair, Robert took a step back to sit down and sink into his large chair, shaking his head in disbelief, "I wanna ask if you're kidding me, but I know you're not, you're not one to joke on matters like that," he muttered, casting a glance towards the kitchen. He could hear the voices; his own sons and another voice of a young child. "Can't believe it, have you told any of the others yet?"

"Didn't want them all rushing to my house when they got the word and overwhelming the poor boy. He was pretty banged up when I found him, poor thing was crying and bleeding. I've picked him up some antibiotics to help with an infection he got in his neck," Maggie explained with a shake of her head, "Besides, you're the leader down here, you ought to have been the first to find out."

"I appreciate it, really," Robert said, taking a breath of air and closing his eyes to think. "We need to get him back to them, no doubt about it. But if he's recovering like you said, then we can't go right away, I'd rather not get a lashing because we brought him back beaten and bruised as he may be." He took another glance to the kitchen, "We'll wait until a few days passed, if his infection is getting better than we'll take him to the others, get him back to where he belongs. I'll call up the boss tonight so he can tell her about this."

Maggie smiled as she placed her hands on her hips, amusement clear on her expression. "He's an energetic little one, it's going to be lively until we can get him out there."


	20. Come With Me

**Authors Note:** A bit of a short chapter compared to the usual 3K or more sized chapters, sorry about that. I've said this before and I'll say it again, I really love writing Jacko, even if his dialogue always makes me worried on reception because of how awful he is at grammar and structure. Will Jacko ever learn how to properly structure his sentences? The world may never know.

* * *

The room that Jacko had been given was larger than the room he got back at the DWMA, and it was a lot more cozy. The walls were a pale green in color and the carpet was soft, the kind of soft and warm that he could curl up and sleep on when compared to the cold hard stone floors of the school. The bed was much too big for him, clearly designed for someone of an adults age range, but the blankets were thick and warm, and the mattress and pillows soft. The décor of the room… well Jacko really didn't understand why the car posters, or the little books he found that just had pictures of half-naked women. They didn't even have wrappings over them, just standing there or sprawled over cars in their underwear. They must have been cold.

There were a lot of things in the room that were more for adults than for kids. The really complicated books, Maggie called them textbooks when he brought one to her, Mickey called them the Books to Bore You to Sleep, he liked Mickeys name for them better. The rooms original owner, Mickeys big brother- Sam… that was what Maggie called him, right? He had a box of tiny rubbery balloons in one drawer that Jacko found when searching the room; each one had its own package, they were all see-through, kind of sticky and had a weird taste when he tried blowing into them. They didn't get big like balloons were supposed to, so maybe they were just a dub box.

The pills Maggie had been making him eat, one in the morning and one at night, had been doing wonders of easing the pain. His neck hurt less and less each day. When Maggie was changing the bandages she had around him, she even said it was looking better! He was glad for that, the sooner they were all healed, the sooner he could resume his search for Siren. But… he would feel bad about leaving this family, he'd grown to like them. Maybe he could have Siren come and bring him over for visits when they got home! Maybe they could move in next door, that way he could play with Maggie and Mickey every day!

Or, maybe not. There wasn't all that much water in this town from what Mickey said, at least nothing bigger than a pond. Siren wouldn't like that, she liked living by large sources of water, she liked the ocean, it calmed her and soothed her. Jacko didn't want to take her away from that just because he wanted to play with his friends more.

They'll figure something out. First thing was first, he had to get to Siren before anything else. That was something he was confident in doing.

"Aaaahra," he stretched his body, arching his back much like a cat and yawned, it was late and he was starting to get a little tired if he were to be honest. He was already all dressed for bed, too. A pair of pajamas that Maggies husband bought him, they had a kitty printed on the front.

Blinking some sleep out of his eyes, Jacko crawled into his borrowed bed, preparing himself to drift off into another night of sleep.

 _Tap. Tap. Tap._

He growled a little at the incessant tapping, scrunching up his face in annoyance as he rolled over, trying his best to ignore the unwanted noise. Maybe if he ignored it long enough, it'd go away.

 _Tap. Tap. Tap._

Nope. It wasn't working, and it was terribly annoying to listen to.

Throwing up his blankets, Jacko pushed himself up to sit and looked around, glaring hard around the room, trying his best to try and find the source of the sound. The tapping continued and the boy glanced back and force until he spotted a small shape at the window. Narrowing his eyes a moment, his body relaxed and his expression brightened.

Wasting no time, Jacko scampered off the bed and threw the window open, "Squawks!" he greeted the raven perched on the windowsill. He hadn't seen the birdie since Maggie got him out of her garden, "You're back!"

The bird squawked at him in response, feathers ruffled as it folded its wings and hopped from one foot to the other on the sill. It fixed Jacko in a dark, beady stare.

"Jacko in trouble?" he asked the bird. He hadn't done something wrong had he, maybe Squawks was just mad that Jacko had been so busy with Maggie and Mickey that he'd not been outside to be with the raven.

But, Squawks shook its head, letting out another series of chirps as it hopped into his room, coming to rest on Jacko's pillow. Legs tucked under it and nestling down as though it were ready to sleep itself. The raven kept the boy in its stare, however, even as it looked for all the world ready to go to bed itself.

At least it wasn't upset with him, then. Jacko was happy with that and eagerly jumped onto the bed. The bird squawked at him in annoyance at the sudden movement on the bed, but ultimately stayed on its chosen pillow.

"Jacko likes here," he decided as he rolled onto his stomach to stare at Squawks, "Maggie nice, Mickey and Robert nice, too!" he explained to the bird, smiling wide as he spoke. Squawks cocked its head to the side and Jacko went on talking about what he'd been up to since meeting them, "Maggie fixed Jacko- an Mickey plays with Jacko! Caught a raccoon! _Raccoon_!" he was a bit overzealous about his hunt, but he had to take pride in what he caught, it was a natural part of a hunter. He gestured to the fresh bandages wrapped around his neck and face when he brought up how Maggie fixed him.

She even said he'd be able to take off the one on his nose tomorrow probably.

He continued on conversing with the raven as though it could speak back to him in just as clear a language, going on and on about what he'd been up to in the past day or so. The bird didn't do much but cock its head, ruffle it's feathers or occasionally chirp at him in response. It was as good a conversation for Jacko and he could feel excitement coursing through his entire body as he talked.

He hadn't realized how much he'd come to miss Squawks, though their separation short lived, until the bird had showed up at his window. It was nice having his friend back.

A knock, however, on the door tore boths attention. Squawks launched itself off his pillow and flung itself out the window and into the sky as another set of knocks hit the door. Confused, Jacko turned himself over to look at the door. "Ye?" He called out curiously.

A moment later the door slowly opened and Mickey stepped inside. He was dressed head to toe in black, as usual. But he had on clothes that looked more fitting for an outside hike than casual clothes or pajamas. On his back was a bag bulging with items much the same way Jacko's had before it had gotten destroyed. By clothes alone it looked like Mickey was ready to go on some kind of journey around the world on foot.

Jacko looked up, confusion written all over his face as he took in Mickeys attire and couldn't quite understand what the reason for the clothes and bag were for. His expression, the determination and worry twisted up together didn't help ease any of his concerns either.

"Mickey?" Jacko asked slowly as he pushed himself to sit up with his legs under himself, "Mickey… wha's wrong?"

Casting an anxious look behind him to the doorway, Mickey quickly closed the door and hurried to the bed, kneeling down in front of Jacko. "I'm leaving, I'm getting far from this town and city and even mom and dad. Jacko, I want you to come with me," he said, adjusting the bag on his back. His voice was low and serious, but he'd put something in his tone as though to try and assure Jacko that it was okay despite what he was saying.

Jacko… didn't understand. Why would Mickey want to leave? "Why?" he asked quietly, "something happen?"

"No, no, nothing happened," Mickey tried to assure the boy, "It's just…" His face contorted into a painful expression, as though he didn't want to admit what the problem was. Taking a deep breath to steel himself, he looked at Jacko right in the eyes.

"Look… Mom and dad, I love them both and they are amazing parents, don't get me wrong," he began, casting another glance to the door, as though he expected someone or something to burst right through it and take them both to Hell, "But… they don't know what's good for this family anymore. …I guess you could say they're following a false God right now. I love them both to death, but, I can't stay when they follow who they do."

Cocking his head to the side, Jacko could only stare in confusion. Most of what Mickey was saying was going right over his head. But, he could understand the general idea of what was going on. "What 'bout Jacko?" he asked, pointing to himself. Why did Mickey want Jacko to go with him? If Mickey didn't agree with Maggie and Robert, that was fine, he could leave, but it didn't make sense to the boy why he wanted to drag Jacko along with him.

"Because I want to take you someplace safe," Mickey answered and sighed, shaking his head, "Mom and dad aren't going to hurt you, but, I don't know about the others they work with. They may say they're these great people doing the world good, but, they're not."

"Eh? Bad…people?"

"Yes, bad people who pretend they're good," Mickey replied to the question, "I… I know some people, good people. If I take you to them, they'll protect you and keep you safe and happy from the people mom and dad are with who'd only get you hurt. You're a nice kid, I don't want to see you get hurt." There was desperation creeping into his voice now, pleading for Jacko to agree, "So, please, come with me. We need to leave tonight."

Jacko fidgeted in his seat and looked at the window and then at Mickey, unsure as to what he should do. Shrinking back in his spot on the bed, reeling away from Mickey a little, he frowned and fidgeted some more.

"No…" he mumbled so quietly it could have been missed altogether. Swallowing, Jacko looked up at Mickey and shook his head, "N-no, Jacko… Jacko stay."

It must not have been what Mickey was expecting because the teen reeled back in shock, confusion washing over his face, "No? But, Jacko!" he tried to argue, reaching out to grab the boy, but Jacko lurched away from him. Faltering, Mickey let his arm drop to his side, "I… okay. Fine. You don't want to come with me, I can't force you," he stood back up to his feet and shook his head, "Don't say I didn't warn you though, I hope everything ends up okay with you since you decided to stay with mom and dad."

"Jacko sorry," he apologized, he hadn't meant to upset Mickey, but, he liked Maggie and couldn't see her doing anything bad.

"No, it's fine. You were given options and you chose," the teen shook his head again as he headed towards the door, "It was nice meeting you, Jacko. Maybe I'll see you again in the future."

With that, he slipped through the door and was gone. Jacko could hear his footsteps growing fainter and fainter as he got further away in the house, no doubt to the front door where he could sneak out and be on his way away from his home and family. Guilt gnawed in the pit of his stomach as Jacko drew his legs up to his chest.

Glancing at the window, he saw that Squawks had returned now that Mickey was gone and frowned, "Jacko… okay?" he asked the bird, looking for assurance that he made a right choice. Squawks did nothing but just fly back up to him and take it's spot back on his pillow.

It was as good an answer as he'd get.


	21. End

**Authors Note**

Hey, guys. I know it's been forever since this was updated and you're probably wondering why it's now marked as completed. Well, there were some things about this fic that I ended up really not liking. So, I decided that I'm going to start over from scratch and rewrite this. I already have the first couple of chapters done, so, I really hope that you guys will read the new version when I start posting it.

Thank you guys for reading this and reviewing. Hope to see you on the improved one.


End file.
